This story’s from Canada. But don’t worry, before you know it, a similar thing will happen in the United States. It will be interesting to see how liberals and their willing judicial accomplices will respond.

“Barbers in Toronto who refused to cut a woman’s hair have become the target of a human rights complaint, in a case that pits religious freedom against gender equality. When Faith McGregor went into the Terminal Barber Shop requesting a short haircut, she was told the shop only grooms men. The reason, co-owner Omar Mahrouk said, was that as a Muslim he could not cut the hair of a woman who was not related to him.”

The barber appealed to his Islamic religious beliefs for the refusal. This would be similar to an orthodox Jew or Islamic butcher who refused to slaughter a pig because of specific religious requirements regarding handling certain unclean meats.

While the rejection was not because the woman was a lesbian, it raises the same types of issues since the refusal of service had to do with gender. Under Canadian law, “business owners aren’t supposed to discriminate based on gender.” So what’s a Muslim barber to do?

Actor Woody Harrelson with some of the barbers at the Terminal Barbershop in Toronto, Canada

Kind of makes you wonder why she picked this particular barber shop? Of all the barber shops in Toronto, she goes to one that is known for its Islamic beliefs. The place has been in business 1925 and no one has complained. Life goes on, even with the discrimination.

“Its client list includes former prime minister Paul Martin and actor Woody Harrelson, who can be seen posing with the owners in a photograph on the shop’s website. Some are standing behind the barbershop’s owners, pointing out that there are women-only spas and gyms.”

Because our courts have made the behavior of same-sexuality a special protected class, the rights of homosexuals trump religious freedom.

In the past, federal law has protected people from having to go against their religious beliefs when it comes to employment. For example, the EEOC sued a trucking company when Muslim drivers were fired because they would not deliver alcohol to customers.

“Star Transport, Inc., a trucking company based in Morton, Ill., violated federal law by failing to accommodate two employees because of their religion, Islam, and discharging them, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. . . .

“According to EEOC District Director John P. Rowe, who supervised administrative investigation prior to filing the lawsuit, ‘Our investigation revealed that Star could have readily avoided assigning these employees to alcohol delivery without any undue hardship, but chose to force the issue despite the employees’ Islamic religion.’”

The federal law protecting the Muslim drivers is no different from the Arizona law that Gov. Brewer vetoed.

“John Hendrickson, the EEOC Regional Attorney for the Chicago District Office said, ‘Everyone has a right to observe his or her religious beliefs, and employers don’t get to pick and choose which religions and which religious practices they will accommodate.’”

Did you get that? “Everyone has a right to observe his or her religious beliefs.” So why do employees have a right to exercise their religious rights but not owners of a business?

Should Muslim barbers be forced to cut women’s hair? Should a Muslim butcher be forced to butcher a pig and other unclean animals?

Our government has opened a very big can of worms.