Jessica Yaniv appeared at the Surrey Provincial Court today to face two weapons charges after police searched Yaniv’s home on August 5th.
Yaniv, who was born male but recently began identifying as female, made national news this year after taking several women to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal for refusing to wax male genitalia. One woman and business owner was forced to shut her business down due to Yaniv’s complaint.
Yaniv is currently facing two counts of possessing unauthorized non-firearms and appeared in court at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.
“I just want to say something if I may, I shouldn’t have to have so many security guards and police officers here and get somebody arrested, this is why I had those stun guns, because my safety is in jeopardy,” Yaniv told the judge.
Yaniv claims to have been arrested by the RCMP after brandishing a stun gun during a livestream with transgender YouTuber Blaire White. The RCMP confirmed to National Post that a Langley-area home was indeed searched after they received a complaint about the video.
In October 2019, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled that the female estheticians who refused Yaniv’s waxing requests had the right to do so. According to the ruling, “Yaniv filed complaints for improper purposes” and gave a “disingenuous and self-serving testimony.”
The women involved in the case, many of whom were immigrants who worked out of their own home, were awarded $2,000 each by the tribunal.
“In many of these complaints, [Yaniv] is also motivated to punish racialized and immigrant women based on her perception that certain ethnic groups, namely South Asian and Asian communities, are ‘taking over’ and advancing an agenda hostile to the interests of LGBTQ+ people,” wrote tribunal member Devyn Cousineau.
When Yaniv tried to appeal the decision, the tribunal turned down the request.
Yaniv is expected to appear in court again on January 13, 2020 to face weapons charges.
