Barbierro, your friendly neighborhood queer barbershop

Getting a haircut has always been a gendered activity. Gruff, utilitarian barbershops stand in stark contrast to pimped-out, gossipy hair salons, wrenching needless divides on pricing, stereotypes, and attitudes that often feel unwelcoming for many queer and gender nonconforming individuals. 

Enter Barbierro Barbershop, one of the Philippines’ first queer barbershops. Unlike typical macho barbershops that specialize in cropped cuts, taper fades, and toxic masculinity, Barbierro offers a queer-friendly space for people looking to avail themselves of prime hair and grooming services based on hair length, texture, and time rather than gender.

Operations manager Buboy Borbe hopes that the shop can be a haven of creativity and self-expression, translated from barber to client. 

“I want our clients to have that sense of community when they come into the shop, that you can do and be anything that you want to be,” he said. 

Planting the flag

When his college friend Paul Sumayao founded Barbierro and its original shop in Laguna, Borbe eventually became one of the first people to bring its presence to Manila. 

“Kung may Barbierro sa isang place (If a place has Barbierro), it’s a sign of community, a symbol to the community that there’s a physical safe space you can go to,” he explained. Aside from its locations in Laguna and Manila, Barbierro has also established one in Camarines Sur and will soon open its doors in Quezon City, as well. 

Now over two years old, Barbierro’s Manila branch anchors the corner of Laong-Laan street across from the well-known Bulaluhan sa Laon-Laan, neighbored by other small stores, businesses, and low-rise apartment buildings. Passing through the busy road, you can’t miss it — the billowing pride flag at the entrance waves customers in through the orange-paned sliding doors and into the eclectic shop. 

One is immediately greeted by the sounds and sights that envelop the intimate space. Barbers and clients volley jokes and stories at one another over the steady snipping of scissors and the low buzz of clippers through hair. Your eyes are then drawn to all the paraphernalia that lines and layers the walls. 

“We wanted to capture Manila,” Borbe said. 

From photographs of scenes from old queer movies, framed artworks, and assorted trinkets, to shelves of books, the shop’s decor pays homage to the city’s melting pot of culture and rich history. More than interesting design choices or quirky conversation starters, the shop’s interior helps create the distinct warmth, ease, and familiarity that define both the space and the services it offers.

Never clip your wings

As a proud queer barbershop, it is essential that Barbierro employs only those who are just as committed to executing its vision and mission.

“The barbering world is very cisgender and male,” Borbe reflected. “Mas marami kasi ‘yung mga traditional na barber. Mga ayaw humawak ng babae, o mga may lack of professionalism.”

(There are more traditional barbers. Those who don’t want to work on women’s hair or those who lack professionalism.)

As such, Borbe’s hiring process takes much more scrutiny than usual. Aside from skill and experience, he looks into a barber’s personality and openness. This skews the pool to barbers on the younger side, veering away from those who remain loyal to the views held by the male-dominated industry.

But this meticulous parsing of applicants ultimately pays off, perhaps not always in barbers who are queer themselves or even familiar with the intricacies of queerness, but those who are willing to listen, learn, and communicate. 

An initiative that strengthens this is Barbierro’s mandatory SOGIE training for barbers, done twice a year, which 19-year-old barber Cyann, who has been part of the team since September 2025, had already undergone once. 

Citing his religious background and recounting his first SOGIE training experience, Cyann said, “Parang may bagong knowledge ako doon. Kasi wala talaga akong alam sa queer. Kumbaga, hindi pala lahat ng tawag sa mga babae na male presenting ay ‘tomboy’ kaagad, kasi may trans man, transmasc, gano’n. Hindi talaga two genders lang.“

(It felt like I learned something new from that. I really didn’t know much about queer identities before. For example, not all women who present in a more masculine way are automatically “tomboy,” because there are trans men, transmasc people, and so on. It’s not just two genders.)

Having been with Barbierro for almost a year, Cyann appreciates how his client’s creativity and often alternative expression widens his knowledge of barbering beyond the typical fades and barber’s cuts of his previous workplaces. When working with this more diverse pool of clients, he ensures the style matches not just their face shape, hair type, or the peg shown to him, but also their preferences and personality. 

In honoring their expression, Cyann has also expanded his. As loyal clients return to the shop and settle into its familiarity, Cyann has come out of his comfort zone both skill-wise and socially, pointing to the shop’s ability to naturally foster connections. 

“Hindi lang haircut ‘yung nabubuild, pati friendship na rin (We’re not just building haircuts, but friendships, too).”

Barbierro in the barangay

Coming from Sumayao’s foundation of queer solidarity on the province and barangay level, Borbe has always been adamantly against approaching Barbierro as a gentrified or impersonal venture. Though the branch is situated in Metro Manila, they’d purposefully skipped more urban locations in favor of the quaint, neighborly Laong-Laan street. 

Interactions with their neighbors are frequent, friendly, and casual. Beyond everyday encounters, Borbe ensures they are a part of their milestone occasions, such as their street parties held each year on the shop’s anniversary, where food is served from nearby vendors and everyone is invited to join the celebration. 

Fondly recalling their second anniversary, Borbe said: “It was very successful for us. We had a drag show outside, and everyone was watching, including the kids and their parents.”

These events also involve collaborations with artists and business owners from the queer community — often friends, referrals, or their own clients, pointing to Barbierro’s deep ties within it.

“Ayun lang, chika, mga kwentuhan,“ Borbe said, describing the conversational way these events are usually planned. “‘O, event naman tayo.’ Ganun-ganun lang siya.“

(Just catching up, having conversations. “Let’s do an event.” It’s as simple as that.)

It is these genuine connections that sum up Barbierro’s success not just as a business, but also in the expansion of its queer advocacy. An expansion not in “the monetary sense,” as Borbe clarified, but in inciting meaningful change on how people can learn from and show up for one another. – Rappler.com

Raine Romero is a Rappler intern studying AB Political Science with a minor in Creative Writing at De La Salle University.