Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship.
Reporter Olivia Conti spent time at Talmo Hair Co. in Burlington, where stylists host free haircut sessions for LGBTQ+ young people seeking gender-affirming haircuts. Listen in the player above and read along with the transcript below. The salon’s next gender-affirming haircut day is Oct. 6.
Community News Service: These hair stylists give back to their community through offering free gender-affirming haircuts for kids. Dana Talmo, owner and stylist at Talmo Hair Co. in Burlington, started this event in 2021 and tries to hold it monthly on Sundays. The salon is typically closed on Sundays. Aug. 11 was the salon’s most recent such event.
Eleven kids from ages 3 to 17 received gender-affirming haircuts this past session in the pink-and-green studio with art-filled walls. Rather than the typical chaos of a booked day, calm energy welcomed kids through the door. A gender-affirming haircut is a haircut that helps the client feel like their hair matches their identity.
Talmo’s mission is to create a salon that is comfortable, nonjudgemental and open to everyone.
Talmo: “And to offer just comfortable, pure care to people who may have been scorched by, like, another salon not giving them what they want or, like, not giving someone the correct clipper cut just because they look feminine or something like that.”
CNS: That’s Dana.
Talmo: “Like, I dealt with that stuff growing up, like I always wanted, you know, like a quote-unquote men’s typical style haircut. But sometimes stylists wouldn’t do it because they didn’t think I would like it because I look like a woman.”
CNS: Dana emphasizes the importance of collaboration between the client and stylist during their haircut experience. Dana opened Talmo Hair in Burlington in 2020 along with a location in Barre later on.
Dana isn’t the only hairstylist at Talmo who wasn’t happy with haircuts growing up. Others at the salon had similar experiences, which is why giving back to queer youth resonates with them.
This is Aaron Young, a stylist at Talmo.
Young: “Just like a really wonderful way for us as queer adults to give back to, our queer youth community especially, because I think that so many queer and especially trans adults really struggle seeing like themselves represented as, like, older people. I know I would love to meet trans elders. So I think it’s really awesome for younger, like kids and teens, to get to come into a space full of queer and trans adults and be really seen and heard and represented and just to like, feel safe in this space, I think, is really, really important to all of us.”
CNS: This was the fourth time Rosemary Naydihor, another stylist, partook in a gender-affirming haircut event. They felt like they were giving back.
Naydihor: “It feels so special to be able to give that, especially being on the opposite end, like having sat in that chair and not receive that. So I feel like I’m doing the work, I’m giving back and maybe breaking some chains. And also, it’s just fun, you know, like the energy is always so good and gender-affirming haircut days, there’s kids that are excited.”
CNS: Aaron focuses on open communication throughout the haircut process.
Young: “Being willing to, like, pivot and make changes throughout the haircut. So the way that a lot of us sort of start our process of the haircut is either looking at pictures or sort of talking about, like, ‘Tell me what you like about your hair right now and what you don’t like.’ And then how can we move you in a direction that feels more like you? Or that, you know, is there a haircut that you like more? And so we’ll, you know, look at pictures and kind of dissect it. This is what I like. This is what I want. This is what feels good. Or we’ll just kind of look and play with our hands. Like pulling things away from the face or just like, you know, experimenting. Seeing what things look like. And then usually, we’ll, you know, start the haircut, maybe get halfway through. And then we all like to do sort of check-ins at that point of like, ‘Okay, tell me how this is feeling. Do you like how short it is? Do you want to go shorter? How do the bangs feel? Do we still like this idea?’ And we just really try to give lots of room for the client to have input because, it’s really, I think, important, especially from a gender-affirming standpoint, for it to really be a collaborative experience.”
CNS: Aaron also emphasized how haircuts are a great nonpermanent way for youth to discover and experiment with their identity and figure out what makes them feel best.
The option for a safe space to receive a haircut where a kid can be seen and heard is essential for their mental health. According to a report this spring from the Vermont Department of Health, 59% of LGBTQ+ youth in the state report experiencing poor mental health most of the time. Thirty-five percent of Vermont youth as a whole report the same, the report says.
Naydihor: “A haircut is a great way to provide someone that space of like, ‘I hear you, I see you, this is what you want to be seen as. This is what you want to look like in the world.’ And having someone here, you can be like, ‘Yes, that’s valid.'”
CNS: Amanda Rohdenburg, associate director of Outright Vermont, an LGBTQ youth organization, spoke to her experience working with youth and seeing joy and confidence when they are able to express themselves, which can be hair based.
Editor’s note: The music in this piece is a royalty-free song called “Doing Good” by Snoozybeats.