The guy has every right to act as he did in a free society.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez needs a new hairdresser — or a new stance on gay marriage.

Martinez was recently dropped by her hair stylist, Antonio Darden, who is gay.
Darden told a local news station that he cut the governor’s hair three times, but won’t do it again as long as she continues to oppose gay marriage.

“The governor’s aides called not too long ago, wanting another appointment to come in,” he told KOB-TV. “Because of her stances and her views on this, I told her aides no. They called the next day, asking if I’d changed my mind about taking the governor in and I said no.”

Martinez has said she believes marriage should be between a man and woman.

Unfortunately, if the situation were reversed, there would be a much louder outcry. If Martinez supported same sex marriage and Darden opposed it, there would be pickets twelve deep in front of his place of business. Oh, yeah -- and death threats that would likely go unprosecuted.

And if a hairdresser in the community were to say he/she opposed same sex marriage and therefore would not do the hair of participants in such a ceremony, there would be lawsuits and other legal repercussions over the refusal.

Apparently only one side of the issue has rights – and our so-called “civil rights laws” are non-neutral statutes that are used to impose the political agenda of one side of the political spectrum. Indeed, one could argue that the disparity shows the fundamental flaw in the well-intentioned application of civil rights law to private entities. After all, government has no legitimate right to discriminate against any citizen – but private individuals like Mr. Darden certainly do. After all, owning a business entitles you to some rights, too. And lest you think that is a statement in support of discrimination – consider that if the Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in Fisher v. Texas, having laws that recognized a right of private entities to discriminate would allow private schools and businesses continue using it.

UPDATE: My fellow Watcher's Council member Dan over at Gay Patriot notes that the guy also lost a chance to engage the governor on the issue upon which they disagree.