When opting for hair care, it's common for most to think "barbershops are for men" and "salons are for women." And that isn’t just some “kwentong barbero” (hearsay). Salons are usually marketed to women, while barbershops exude a distinctly male-oriented vibe — most of them speak for themselves. But what about queer people?

That’s the question the owners of Barbierro Barbershop had in mind before launching a queer-friendly barbershop designed to serve everyone.

The term “kwentong barbero” was coined to refer to rumors and exaggerated tales that barbers share with customers while cutting their hair. However, conversations held within the walls of barbershops may also extend beyond grooming, styling, and gossip. Most would agree that they are also filled with misogyny, toxic masculinity, and homophobia. And if you’re coming in a little too feminine or outside heteronormative standards, such a space could feel deeply unwelcoming.

This is an experience one of the owners of Barbierro Barbershop had firsthand. With a merman logo and an in-your-face Pride flag adorning the shop’s interior, Barbierro Barbershop is unapologetically queer — a safe space where clients can simply walk in as they are, with no pretenses.

In our latest exclusive, we caught up with Barbierro Barbershop Co-owner Paul Sumayao as he talked about the inspiration behind the business, the challenges they faced, and how it became a love letter to queer kids — past, present, and future.

The Philippines’ First Queer Barbershop

Barbershops have long presented as hyper-masculine spaces, specializing in grooming services that range from tapering and fades to buzz cuts and classic short haircuts. But most barbershops look, for lack of a better word, too straight. It’s almost a universal experience that queer people often feel pressured to perform when getting haircuts in barbershops. Some would even try to modulate their voices to sound straight-passing enough — the sad reality for a lot of queer kids who grew up just wanting the same service as everyone else.

“I think, as a queer person, I realized there weren’t enough safe spaces for queer people to get haircuts without being ostracized. That's where my curiosity started: ‘Why aren't there any queer-friendly barbershops yet?’ I mean, there are salons, of course, but [there’s still a thin line between] salons and barbershops,” said Sumayao, who then asked himself, “What if we’re simply looking for a haircut?”

Of course, such introspection didn’t come out of nowhere. The creation of Barbierro Barbershop — founded by Sumayao and Jedi Directo — is deeply rooted in the owners’ experiences as members of the community. This ultimately led to the creation of the queer-friendly barbershop in Biñan, Laguna, which has since expanded to Manila and Camarines Sur.

“I think [it’s rooted] in a bit of my past also, growing up in Camarines Sur as a panganay (eldest child) to my two male siblings, I am the one in charge of taking them to barbershops. I was like, ‘Why am I uncomfortable in the past taking my siblings to barbershops, when in fact, we will pay the same as the next person,” Sumayao shared.

He added, “That led me to think, ‘Okay, we might be on to something.’ And I looked for some resources overseas because they also have queer barbershops in [other countries]. But why are there no barbershops like that in the Philippines? That’s how it came to me.”

The result of the 2022 presidential election was also a catalyst for what would become a queer-friendly barbershop celebrated for fostering an inclusive space for everyone. But apart from building a space as an expression of love for the community, its creation also came from a place of fear.

“In 2022, when our candidate for president lost the election, it was really a trigger for me. I was like, ‘Okay, we really can’t be silent at this point.’ We can't just stay silent about the future of this country, what’s at stake, and how our country could no longer be inclusive,” Sumayao stated.

“Coincidentally, in the street where I campaigned house-to-house, there was a space available. It was one of the factors, too. It felt right that time. We felt a certain sense of safety in the area. From there, I made phone calls, and that’s our little story. It was like divine providence — like the right timing.”

Claiming the Narrative

The name already gave it away. But no, it wasn’t really a pun on Barbie. The iconic Mattel brand may come across as the inspiration behind the name Barbierro, and we get it: Barbie is a hyperfeminine character, also used as a term to mock queer people, especially in the Philippines, when a viral video of a kid receiving a Barbie doll as a gift became an online conversation fueled by homophobia.

“It was from a viral video of a kid, saying, “Ay, Barbie, sabi ko na!. (Ay, it’s Barbie, I told you!). And that was kind of triggering because when someone hears gay, why do they automatically think of Barbie? So we claimed it! And barbero is the Filipino word for barber, so it’s really as simple as that. We wanted to have a wordplay on the viral Barbie video and then barbershop,” added Sumayao.

There are several things queer people are good at, and one of them is reclaiming narratives, refusing to let words be weaponized against them. “Let’s claim the narrative.’ Tinatawag niyo kami na Barbie at bakla?’ (You call us Barbie and homosexuals?).’ Sure, let’s claim that. That’s the story,” he added.

For Sumayao, inclusivity doesn’t only entail welcoming everyone regardless of gender, sexuality, and gender expression; it’s also a way to reclaim what was withheld from queer people for the longest time. He said: “I think [being inclusive] is claiming spaces that were initially deprived from us. Barbershops are really traditionally masculine. When you trigger conversations inside the barbershops about inclusive grooming and gender-neutral pricing, it becomes a totally different mechanism of its own.”

Building a Queer-Friendly Business from Scratch

Opening a business was no easy task, let alone opening one that caters to minorities, in Barbierro’s case, the LGBTQIA+ community. But establishing a barbershop requires at least a basic knowledge of how it operates — and so the owners of Barbierro tried to reach out to barbershop owners as well, which proved to be a challenge in and of itself.

“We had no background in barbershop management. It took a while for us to learn [everything], and [straight male owners] of some barber shops, we also consulted them, but they were not that friendly. We tried to join barber shop groups to find out how to operate a barbershop, but we got nothing. We tried working on it [from scratch]. That’s how it began,” Sumayao recalled.

The challenges didn’t stop at building the barbershop. Of course, they also had to hire barbers who understand not only the business concept but also everything they’re fighting for. Everything eventually fell into place, though. But their journey in hiring barbers revealed one thing: toxic masculinity is still very much prevalent to this day.

“We had difficulty hiring barbers who understood the concept. We had difficulty communicating that, ‘hey, we’re going to cut hair even for women.’ And they’ll say, ‘Sorry pero hindi po kami gumugupit ng babae (Sorry, but we don't cut women's hair). This is from a real experience, we had this one barber who said he’s not cutting a woman’s hair because nakakabawas daw ng pagka-lalaki niya (it reduces his masculinity) — those are his exact words. That’s the difficulty that we had for the first six to eight months,” shared Sumayao.

He continued, “We kept switching barbers until we found a set of barbers that understood what we’re fighting for. It also helped that our barbers saw the conversation happening online. Even if it’s not clear to them at first, over time, they finally understood that this kind of space is actually necessary. Hiring the right barbers was really the challenge.”

Before Barbierro Barbershop came about, Sumayao already knew the challenges queer people faced in traditional barbershops. However, it was still a revelation when he learned about queer women’s experiences, saying, “This is kind of a discovery that we’ve had that queer women are the most ostracized both in salons and barber shops because whenever they go to salons, they get offered hair straightening treatments right away when in fact they just wanted a simple haircut — [one that is] masculine-presenting, perhaps.”

A Love Letter to Queer Kids

Barbierro Barbershop was built for everyone, including gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary clients, allies, and even cisgender heterosexuals. But most especially, it was created as a love letter to queer kids everywhere. When asked about the most rewarding part of building a queer-friendly barbershop, Sumayao told us:

“I think it’s acknowledging the universality of the experience of folks growing up without a queer barbershop. When we started becoming visible on social media and print, na-realize namin hindi pala kami nag-iisa (we realized that we’re not alone). There are a lot of young queer people who feel ostracized in areas they often go to. I think it’s the fact alone that we’re able to do something for queer kids everywhere who might be delighted to find out that there’s a space out there that welcomes them as queer people.”

Sumayao knew longevity is the name of the game, but with that plan comes always keeping queer kids in mind, adding, “I feel like longevity is an indicator of success for us — it’s super important for us. If the business stays longer, it means we’re able to cater to more clients. I don’t mind having just around six branches rather than launching a hundred branches, but the quality is compromised. For me, success is truly shown in longevity. I always dreamed that, perhaps in Barbierro’s 10th or 20th year, I would be retiring and maybe someone else would be taking over. That’s really the idea — to stay in the business and provide more hair care to more queer kids everywhere.”

You may visit Barbierro Barbershop’s official website for more information about their services, pricing, locations, and operating hours. You may also follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for other updates.

Location: Barbierro Barbershop Laong Laan, 2157 Laong Laan Rd, Sampaloc, Manila, 1008 Metro Manila, Philippines