Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

USA: State finds Traverse City hair salon's anti-trans posts violated law

31 replies

MintBird · 05/08/2026 11:47

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hair-salon-forced-into-anti-discrimination-training-after-horrific-anti-lgbtq-facebook-rant/ar-AA29k6vK

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/state-finds-traverse-city-hair-151323047.html?_guc_consent_skip=1785926388

"A hair salon that posted a message to social media telling transgender people to go to a “pet groomer” instead lost its case before the Michigan Civil Rights Commission last week.

“This ruling sets the precedent that no business can publicly discriminate without consequence, whether it occurs face-to-face or over social media,” commission chair Luke Londo said in a statement.

In 2023, the Studio 8 Hair Lab in Traverse City posted a message to Facebook that said that many trans people were not welcome at the salon: “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 then said, “This is America; free speech. This small business has the right to refuse services.” The message then confusingly said that only realtors have to follow anti-discrimination laws and that “my recent airport experience validates this.”

The commission ordered Studio 8 to take down its Facebook post, stop retaliating against the people who filed complaints, pay attorneys’ fees related to the case, get anti-discrimination training, and create a new post on social media and in the store saying that the business will not discriminate."

Turns out saying "free speech!" doesn't mean you can say what you want without consequence, even in the US, and discrimination laws do still apply even if you don't want them to or pretend they don't exist.

OP posts:
Original poster
MintBird · 06/08/2026 16:01

MarieDeGournay · 05/08/2026 15:18

The hair salon case was in 2023.

If I'm ever in.. where was it again? Traverse City, I won't give them my custom because I think the dog-grooming thing was rude, and that's not good public relations, is it?

It's a shame, because I like the idea of a business that recognises that the LGB community exists, separately from the TQ++ community who are a different set of people with different issues, identities, histories, etc etc.

I might have got a decent haircut there, unlike the barbers who refuse to cut my hair because I'm a woman.

They've forfeited my custom - punishment enough, surely?😏

edited for spelling, I thought there was a spellchecker on these posts? clearly not, or else it randomly withholds its services to make me look bad😄

Edited

The hair salon case was in 2023.

Yes but it's common for court cases to take years.

I might have got a decent haircut there, unlike the barbers who refuse to cut my hair because I'm a woman.

There's a practical reason for that- women's hair requires different training from men's. I'm sure the barbers would have been happy to cut your hair if you don't mind a short back and sides crewcut?

OP posts:
Original poster
MintBird · 06/08/2026 16:10

PrizedPickledPopcorn · 05/08/2026 18:42

I agree it sounds like a statement against people wanting to be treated as if they are animals.

Generally small business are not in favour of losing custom. They want customers. I’d assume the rant was the result of a couple of difficult experiences with specific customers, and they foolishly included the whole alphabet in it.

Presumably you have the right to refuse service to a furry in costume? I’d also refuse service to someone who was being exceptionally demanding. Anyone upsetting staff would expect to be removed.

Their social media feed is full of disgusting anti-LGBT posts. It's clear they just hate LGBT people rather than responding to 1 or 2 incidents.

OP posts:
MarieDeGournay · 06/08/2026 18:09

MintBird · 06/08/2026 16:01

The hair salon case was in 2023.

Yes but it's common for court cases to take years.

I might have got a decent haircut there, unlike the barbers who refuse to cut my hair because I'm a woman.

There's a practical reason for that- women's hair requires different training from men's. I'm sure the barbers would have been happy to cut your hair if you don't mind a short back and sides crewcut?

Show quote history

Short back and sides is exactly what I want but what most of them refuse to do!
Not a crew cut though, that's a bit ...severe.

BernardBlacksMolluscs · Today 11:29

MintBird · 06/08/2026 16:10

Their social media feed is full of disgusting anti-LGBT posts. It's clear they just hate LGBT people rather than responding to 1 or 2 incidents.

Show quote history

i'm still puzzled about why you're telling us. if you want to school them, knock yourself out responding to them on facebook. no-one here is trying to stop you or cares

Lins77 · Today 11:40

BunnyBunbunbun · 06/08/2026 08:04

Apparently the salon people didn't want to be obliged to refer to men who claim to be women as "she" or "her". I admit I'd have a problem with that too.

I can't see why a hairdresser doing someone's hair would need to refer to them by third person pronouns. It seems to me that could easily be avoided.

BunnyBunbunbun · Today 12:49

MintBird · 06/08/2026 16:10

Their social media feed is full of disgusting anti-LGBT posts. It's clear they just hate LGBT people rather than responding to 1 or 2 incidents.

Show quote history

Which social media feed?.The one I saw didn't say anything about lesbians, gay men and bisexual people other than that LGB people are welcome. The posts about the TQ+ were not positive, but they were hardly disgusting and hate-filled.

I wish people would stop deliberately yoking lesbians, gay men and bisexual people to the TQ+. We are quite different and it's a cheap trick to scare people into thinking it's anti-gay to say that there are only two sexes and humans can't change sex. It's actually pro-gay to acknowledge that there are only two sexes and that biological men can't be lesbians.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page