After she was denied medical care for a body part she didnât even have, a transgender woman claimed she was discriminated against by a gynaecologist.
The matter grew serious as litigation was initiated and now has the world divided in opinion.
Keep reading to learn more.
Jessica Yaniv â now known as Jessica Simpson â is a Canadian transgender activist who sparked outrage in 2018 when she started filing a string of human rights complaints against beauticians who refused to manicure her man parts.
Simpson wanted a Brazilian, a treatment that removes all or part of the hair from a womanâs pubic region. The same technique involving a penis or scrotum is referred to as a âbrozilianâ or âmanzilianâ and estheticians are specifically trained for each.
Simpson, 37, still has her male genitalia but it didnât stop her from accusing five independent beauty workers for refusing to give her a wax, demanding up to $15,000 in damages from each of them.
âNone of these providers had any issue with anything until I mentioned I was transgender,â the Langley, British Columbia resident told the court, the Telegraph reports.
Simpson vs. beauticians
In 2019, the trans woman lost the countryâs landmark discrimination case and was ordered pay $2,000 in damages to each of the three respondents who testified at the hearings.
The court also said she showed âanimus toward certain racial, religious and cultural groups.â
The workers who testified were home-based estheticians, minorities who worked from their own homes, spoke little English and were forced to shutter their businesses after Simpsonâs accusations.
The women performed Brazilian waxing services on their female clients but were not trained or equipped to handle male anatomy.
When a reporter at the Calgary Herald asked if she felt bad the businesses closed because of her, she replied: âNo, why should I feel bad? The one who was the victim here was me. The way that I see it, all women should receive the same service.â
Simpson vs. fire department
Over the next several years, the âactivist,â called a âprolific litigantâ by one BC Supreme Court Justice â lodged complaints against beauty pageants, the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) provincial health, and a local news network.
And then in February 2021, the Langley Fire Department delivered a warning to Simpson, who reportedly made more than 30 calls for help in getting out of the bath.
âSince January 21, the Fire Department has received and responded to over 30 such calls for assistance, none of which constituted a medical emergency,â the letter to Simpson explained.
âFurther, we understand that during the Fire Department attendance at your home, you have engaged inappropriate and lewd conduct towards Fire Department staff.
âYour conduct has created, among other things an inappropriate and unsafe environment for Fire Department staff. This is not acceptable to the Township and will not be tolerated going forward.â
She responded with a now deleted tweet, where she said, per the Western Standard, that sheâll âbe suing the township for libel and other things.â
Simpson vs. gynecologist
Despite her many charges, including possession of a prohibited weapon, mischief, assault, and using sexualized language in communications with underage girls, Simpson â whoâs several times been accused of racism â appears to be bolstered by the public scrutiny.
Most recently, she decided to go after a gynecologistâs office that allegedly told her âwe donât serve transgender patients.â
In a now deleted Instagram post, Simpson said she was âshocked.. and confused⊠and hurt.â
âAre they allowed to do that, legally? Isnât that against the college practices,â she tweeted, tagging the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC), the group that regulates medicine in the province.
Per the Daily Mail, she then shared with her followers: âGynaecologists form a part of the multidisciplinary team who engage with transgender and nonâbinary patients, either as part of the transition stage performing surgery or managing preâ or postâtransition gynaecological problems.â
And though she later claimed the CPSBC agreed she was discriminated against, there have been no updates since she launched the complaint in 2019.
What people are saying
âHaving plastic surgery and taking artificial hormones doesnât magically turn a male into a female. Nor does it automatically mean all OBGYNâs would be qualified to treat a man who imitates being a woman,â Kirralie Smith told Binary, a group that âpushes against harmful gender theory and the aggressive ideological agenda that comes with it.â
Smith continued, â[Simpson] needs to see a transgender specialist, not a doctor who specialises in womenâs health care.â
Ricky Gervais, one of the worldâs funniest and most controversial comedians also commented on Simpsonâs claims: âItâs disgusting that a qualified gynaecologist can refuse to check a ladyâs cock for ovarian cancer. What if her bollocks are pregnant? She could lose the baby. Iâm outraged,â he tweeted.
Gervais later shared on X: âI was going to dress up as something weird and creepy for my Halloween party, but Iâm bucking the trend this year and Iâm going as brave female activist Jessica Yaniv. This also means I donât have to wax my big old hairy balls.â
Trans healthcare
Medical professionals are increasingly speaking out about the critical differences between natal female anatomy and structurally different neo-vaginas â vaginas created through gender-affirming surgery â especially when it comes to routine healthcare.
Whatâs important, experts say, that âAnyone with a cervix, vagina, uterus, ovaries, or fallopian tubes needs regular gynecologic care, regardless of gender.â
This means someone assigned male at birth does not need the same medical care as a biological woman â or a trans man.
And, only after a trans woman has had âreconstructive genital surgery,â will she âneed gynecological care for her new vulva and vagina,â explains an article titled The Importance of Transgender Gynecology.
At the time, Simpson had all her male body parts.
This issue isnât about discrimination â itâs about clinical safety and competence.
Please let us know if you think the world should adjust to identity over anatomy. Share your thoughts with us and then share this story with others so we can get the conversation started!