Antonio Darden is the latest gay activist to seek 15 minutes of fame by demonstrating precisely the kind of intolerance homosexuals rail against. Darden told a local news station that he refused to give the governor an appointment when her aides called on short notice several months ago because of her opposition to same-sex marriage.
“Because of her stances and her views on this, I told her aides no," Darden told KOB-TV. "They called the next day, asking if I’d changed my mind about taking the governor in and I said no.”
Darden, a stylist in Santa Fe and the owner of Antonio’s Hair Studio, has been with his partner for 15 years.
“It’s just equality, dignity for everyone,” he said. “Everybody should be allowed the right to be together.”
However, the governor's office tells a different story. According to The Associated Press, a spokesman for the governor said Darden has never been the governor's hairdresser and only cut her hair two or three times about 10 months ago. When they called for another appointment several months ago, Darden declined, but didn't give a reason. It was only two weeks ago that he decided to call the governor's office and leave a message saying he refused the appointment because of her stance on gay marriage.
Meanwhile, Darden has been keeping himself busy doing media interviews where he revels in taking snarky swipes at the governor. For example, he told SiriuisXMOutQ that he not only cut the governor's hair but also colored it and will not be releasing the formula to the governor as punishment for her views.
"Normally I sell the formula to people if they want to go to a different salon that is cheaper. I normally give the formula to clients if they’re moving out of state because I care about my clients. But I would not give that formula to her," he said.
Darden is also claiming to have "enormous" support from people who are coming into the salon to hug him and congratulate him.
"I have talked with some of the other hairstylists who've emailed me and who sent me cards and they own their own salons," he said. "They're major salons here in Sante Fe and they told me they're following suit with me and she is not welcome in their salons either. I've already heard about so much that’s going on in town. It's not just about her hair. It’s about the service in restaurants. It’s about the people in town and when she’s out in public. There have already been stories of people who have shouted at her.”
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, told OneNewsNow that his first reaction to "this crazy hairdresser story" is to "wish homosexual activists would go back in the closet. I mean, the more 'out' the homosexual movement is, the more obnoxious it is. Here's a guy trying to get his 15 minutes of fame and use his position as a hairdresser to brow beat the governor into supporting counterfeit homosexual 'marriage.'"
LaBarbera suggests it is preposterous that the story has circulated widely -- but then again, he says, the media will "do anything to embarrass conservatives who agree with traditional marriage." He adds "it's a lesson in homosexual activism."
"Now this hairdresser is going around telling other gay people operating businesses to not do business with the governor simply because she agrees with the historic definition of marriage between a man and a woman. This is all about homosexual arrogance and homosexual activist power and using the media to harass people of faith who simply stand for traditional marriage."
LaBarbera says it is time for moral-minded citizens to start using their economic leverage "against arrogant homosexual activists."
They can do this by bringing activists to court where they can win back the basic freedoms that are being lost in the wake of an increasingly hostile and oppressive gay community. This is what a Christian photographer named Elaine Huguenin of Albuquerque did when a complaint was filed against her for refusing to photograph a same-sex "commitment ceremony" because it violated her religious beliefs. The New Mexico Human Rights Commission found Elaine and her husband Jon, who co-own Elaine Photography, guilty of discrimination under state anti-discrimination laws and ordered them to pay more than $6,000 in costs. They are still appealing the ruling and are willing to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court to win back their God-given right to religious liberty.
"There is a nationwide movement by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its allies to persecute and prosecute anyone who won't be coerced into endorsing the homosexual legal agenda," says the Alliance Defense Fund, who is representing the Huguenins. "More and more Christians, like Elaine and Jon, are learning firsthand that – despite the guarantees of the First Amendment – exercising your religious beliefs is no longer free."
Unless we act now, it could be too late. "If it becomes something where Christians are made to do these things by law in one state, or two, it's going to sweep across the whole United States," Elaine warns,"and religious freedom could become extinct."
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