A salon in Michigan faces backlash after a Facebook post made it clear that transgender clients were not welcome and instead recommended that they "seek services at a local pet groomer."
Offensive Message to Trans People
According to the New York Post, the now-deleted post was made by Studio 8 Hair Lab, a salon in Traverse City. It seemed to be prompted by a US Supreme Court ruling allowing a Christian graphic designer to refuse to work with homosexual 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," the post reads, which was shared by LGBTQnation.com.
Before it was taken down, the post received several comments and responses, including strong criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates.
"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 states, with a reference to the Michigan hate crime legislation.
Earlier this year, Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer expanded protections against discrimination based on a person's gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or disability.
Christine Geiger is identified as a co-owner of the hair business. Following the removal of her offensive message, Geiger said on another Facebook post that she had no issues with lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. But she added that she is not supporting transgender, queer, and individuals of other sexual orientations.
Also, Geiger reportedly made a false assertion that the "+" in the LGBTQ+ signified pedophiles.
The salon has been the subject of an inquiry by the city of Traverse City after the allegations.
Fallout From Hateful Facebook Post
Following Geiger's statements, hair product manufacturer Jack Winn Pro openly dissociated itself from the salon. It wrote on Facebook that Geiger no longer has the authority to represent their brand and that the firm takes a strong stand against hate speech and any type of discrimination.
Due to an influx of recent negative feedback, the Yelp Support staff has been keeping an eye on the Studio 8 Hair Lab page as of Thursday, July 13.
Yelp warned that because of the salon's "recently increased public attention," visitors to the page could be more interested in sharing their opinions on the news than their own experiences with the business itself.
"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," a Yelp notice stated.
