Christine Geiger of Traverse City, Michigan, should probably prepare to be canceled. She owns a hair salon in the city but she recently made an announcement on her Facebook page regarding people interested in requesting her services. She said in the now-deleted post that she would not be serving customers who “identify” as something other than their actual gender and use the applicable pronouns. And if anyone identifies as “anything other than a man/woman” they should “seek services at a local pet groomer.” That should have the woke mob coming after her at light speed. (Kansas City Star)

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.”

Geiger later clarified that she has no problem with lesbian, gay, or bisexual customers. She just doesn’t endorse the “TQ+” part of the LGBTQ+ agenda. She also refuses to play “the pronoun game.”

Ms. Geiger is certainly within her rights to publicly express an opinion on this topic and I can’t say that I personally disagree. There was a time when anyone could express their views on an issue of social debate and get on with their lives. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago when anyone saying human beings come in more than two genders would have been looked at as the oddball. But that was then and this is now. The woke mob does not tolerate dissenting voices and will move to shut them down by any means required.

It’s worth pointing out, however, that Christine Geiger wasn’t simply expressing her personal opinion. She was making that opinion the official policy of her business. That should still be within her rights as the owner, but she needs to be prepared and understand that a certain portion of her prospective clientele may find her policy offensive and take their business elsewhere, though perhaps not to a pet groomer as advised.

Because she is in Michigan, however, there could even be potential legal trouble in her future because the woke mob has a friend in Governor Gretchen Whitmer. A few months ago, Whitmer signed legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or “gender identity.” Would Geiger’s policy qualify as discrimination? She seems to be almost daring the government to come to try to arrest her.

It’s generally not a good idea for businesses to wade into all of these battles over politics. (Just ask Bud Light.) No matter which side you take, you’re going to tick off one portion of your potential client base. That’s what happened to a bakery in Illinois back in March. The owner, Corinna Sac, hosted a drag queen story hour performance at her business. She was then subjected to what she described as “endless harassment” until she finally announced that her business would be closing.

I would offer the same advice to all business owners no matter what side of any given issue they personally come down on. Stay out of politics. Focus on your customer base and don’t do things that will obviously aggravate them. And if you can’t exercise that level of self-restraint, just be prepared to accept the consequences.