Owner bans some LGBTQ customers from Michigan hair salon over pronouns. ‘Not welcome’

The owner of a Michigan hair salon said she is refusing service to some members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Christine Geiger, who owns Studio 8 Hair Lab in Traverse City, said in a Facebook post she is exercising her free speech by only allowing certain customers.

“If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman, please seek services at a local pet groomer,” the hair salon owner said. “You are not welcome at this salon. Period.”

The Facebook page was later deleted, and the salon’s Instagram was set to private. In the biography for the business on Instagram, the owner says it “does not cater to woke ideologies.”

The post came days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that, under the First Amendment, a web designer could refuse to make a website for same-sex marriages based on her religious beliefs. In March, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Geiger doubled down in a post Sunday, July 9, on the Overheard in Traverse City Facebook group. She said she has no issue with lesbian, gay or bisexual customers, but said she will not support the “TQ+” community.

LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, and the “+” signifies additional sexual orientations and gender identities.

“This stance was taken to insure 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,” Geiger said.

Some Facebook commenters supported the business owner’s stance, but others called her opinions “discrimination” and “vile behavior.”

In a statement to WWTV, Traverse City’s LGBTQ organization, Polestar, said the comments made by the business owner “are not welcomed” in the city.

“Hate has shown time and time again to be a losing business strategy and we must not allow this blight to take root in our town,” the organization said.

Traverse City is in northern Michigan about 140 miles north of Grand Rapids.

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