Michigan hair salon claims it will ban transgender customers
A Michigan hair salon is under fire following a recent Facebook post announcing transgender customers were “not welcome” and suggesting they instead “seek services at a local pet groomer.”
Studio 8 Hair Lab, a Traverse City-based hair salon, made the claim in a since-deleted post seemingly spurred by news of a US Supreme Court decision in favor of a Christian graphic designer seeking the right to refuse to work with gay couples.
“If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman please seek services at a local pet groomer. You are not welcome at this salon. Period,” states the post, which was saved and published by LGBTQnation.com.
The post garnered hundreds of comments and reactions, including significant pushback from LGBTQ+ advocates, before it was deleted.
“Should you request to have a particular pronoun used, please note we may simply refer to you as ‘hey you.’ Regardless of MI HB 4744,” the post further stated, referring to the code for a Michigan hate crime law.
That law was changed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer earlier this year to include discrimination against people based on their “gender identity or expression,” “sexual orientation,” as well as their age or disabilities.
Christine Geiger is listed as the salon’s co-owner.
A screenshot of the message, reportedly posted earlier this month on the Studio 8 Hair Lab Facebook page. Facebook
Christine Geiger, who is listed as the salon’s co-owner, did not respond to The Post’s multiple requests seeking comment Thursday. Traverse City announced the salon was under investigation for discrimination over the claims.
After deleting the post, Geiger clarified on a different Facebook page that she has “no issues with LGB,” referring to lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
She went on to add: “It’s the TQ+ that I’m not going to support,” referring to transsexual, queer and people of other sexual orientations, according to a screenshot also captured by LGBTQnation.com.
Geiger then allegedly falsely claimed the “+” represented pedophiles.
A Michigan hair salon is under fire after allegedly announcing transgender customers were “not welcome.” Facebook
“This stance was taken to insure [sic] that clients have the best experience and I am admitting that since I am not willing to play the pronoun game or cater to requests outside of what I perceive as normal this probably isn’t the best option for that type of client,” she wrote.
Following the comments, hair product company Jack Winn Pro publicly distanced itself from the salon, saying in a Facebook post that Geiger “no longer has authorization to represent our brand” and the company takes a “strong stance against hate speech and any form of discrimination.”
As of Thursday, a Yelp page for Geiger and Studio 8 Hair Lab was “being monitored by Yelp’s Support team” amid a flood of recent negative reviews.
“This business recently received increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news rather than actual consumer experiences with the business,” a Yelp message stated.
“We’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page as we work to investigate. The content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events.”
Source: New York Post
