A recent study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law finds that an estimated 2.3 million adults in the U.S. identify as Latino and LGBTQ+, and these numbers are soaring over the last decade.

Walk into almost any barbershop and you’ll likely find a male barber trimming or clipping away. Middletown barber Yari Torres is breaking the tradition of being a female barber at 6th West Barbershop.

“The industry is still male-dominated, but I believe that it has grown so much and it's evolved so much and proven that women can do the job just as well or even better,” said Torres.

In addition to being a female barber, Torres identifies as a Hispanic queer woman. She says she came out in her freshman year of high school.

“In a Hispanic household, you're not allowed to date at all until you're like 18, so my dad always thought that I was dating a guy or a boy,” Torres said, “and the reality I had a girlfriend and it ended up … actually gave him a sense of relief in a way because he knew that I wasn't going out with boys.”

Torres recalls her mother took the news harder due to her religious beliefs.

“She couldn’t accept it and she cried a lot,” said Torres.

Last year, same-sex marriage became legally recognized throughout Mexico.

Torres says machismo is a big thing in her culture where women don’t really have much of a say so it’s possible that legalizing same-sex marriage played a role in more people throughout the Latinx community feeling empowered to openly come out.

“People don't understand that like, in my culture, it’s very prideful, very strong pride with man,” said Torres.

When she was younger, Torres had a hard time understanding and identifying with her masculine and feminine self.

“As I got older, I kind of, I like grew into like my own skin and stuff. And I also started to just explore myself as well and express myself without the labels,” said Torres.

That includes being a barber. Torres says she loves the freedom she feels in her skin and doing the job.

“I think that's what pride is all really about. It's about like connecting with other people connected with people's souls and just really understanding people what you can see on the outside,” said Torres.

According to a recent study, LGBTQ+ identification is higher among Latinos than white or black American adults, helping drive the soaring rates of self-identification over the last decade.