A Michigan hair salon has expressed its intent to refuse service to LGBTQ+ customers and compared them to animals, hot on the heels of last week’s Supreme Court verdict allowing some U.S. businesses a license to discriminate on First Amendment grounds.
Christine Geiger, the owner of Studio 8 Hair Lab in Traverse City, MI, wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post earlier this week that anyone who “identifies as anything other than a man/woman” should “seek services at a local pet groomer,” further noting they “are not welcome at this salon,” according to reporting in The Kansas City Star. Studio 8’s Instagram account has since been locked, with its bio reading only “A private CONSERVATIVE business that does not cater to woke ideologies.”
"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," Geiger went on to write, a likely typo in reference to Michigan's HB 4474, which escalates sentencing for “repeated or continued harassment” of a person that causes them to feel “terrorized, frightened, or threatened." It has been mischaracterized by Republicans who claim it will make misgendering a felony.
In a comment posted to a local Traverse City Facebook group, Geiger doubled down on her statement by spreading conspiracy theories about queer and transgender people. “It’s the TQ+ that I’m not going to support,” Geiger specified, falsely claiming that the “+” stands for “Minor Attracted Person aka: pedophile.” Although the acronym “MAP” has existed since around 2007, it is not connected to LGBTQ+ communities in any way. Beginning around 2016, users on 4chan and other similar websites have organized disinformation campaigns to falsely claim that LGBTQ+ people are attempting to add labels like MAP and “pedosexual” to the umbrella — even posing as real gay people to create the illusion that child sexual abuse is welcomed within queer communities.
Geiger’s stunt may be one of the most visible examples so far of the fallout from the Supreme Court’s 303 Creative v. Elenis decision last week. In a 6-3 vote, the Court found that a web designer could not be legally compelled to make a wedding site for a gay couple — even though the couple named in the suit never asked the plaintiff for a site, and at least one of them is a married straight man. And while some legal experts say Geiger’s screed may not actually be protected by that decision, other discrimination laws and precedents across the U.S. are already being affected. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, asked the city of Louisville to drop an appeal over its Fairness Ordinance last week, which prevents anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in local businesses.
“The Court’s decision opens the door to any business that claims to provide customized services to discriminate against historically marginalized groups,” said ACLU legal director David Cole on the day of the decision last month. “The decision is fundamentally misguided. We will continue to fight to defend laws against discrimination from those who seek a license to discriminate.”
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