“You’re part of the problem.”
That’s what an LGBTQ activist told Alphas Barber Shop owner Chris Prunier of Goffstown, N.H., as she stomped out of his business, angry that he declined to fly a gay pride flag at his business.
But Prunier didn’t take the confrontation — which played out in front of customers and was captured by his security camera — lightly.
Instead, he chose to file a no-trespassing order against the woman and four others he believes “are in cahoots” to stir up trouble in town. And one person named happens to be Select Board Vice Chair Kelly Anne Boyer.
“I’m fed up,” Prunier told NHJournal. “I know the person who came into my shop is part of that crew. It felt like this was orchestrated. If you’re not with them, you’re against them.”
The conflict began two years ago. Prunier says Boyer’s wife Pamela used to have her hair cut at his shop. Prunier and Boyer’s wife shared differing views on politics, he said, adding that the banter the two shared at the time was respectful.
That all changed two years ago when he turned down her request to fly a pro-LGBTQ+ flag outside his business.
“I told her I thought it would be controversial and potentially bad for my business,” Prunier recalled. “She put up a large flag right next door to my shop anyway. So I took it down, rolled it up nicely, stowed it in the back of my store so they could come and take it back, and they proceeded to file a police report.”
The block of Main Street that is home to Alphas Barber Shop includes a dense stretch of other businesses sharing the same building-style storefront space. Prunier acknowledged that another business owner may have given the group permission to fly the flag but said that the close proximity to his shop made him feel like he was being targeted.
“We later settled things, and they got back their flag. She boycotted my shop and never came back, and she knows very well that I’m not OK with promoting this stuff at my business, which is why what happened last week was the last straw for me,” he said.
From security camera video at Alphas Barber Shop.
Prunier claims Lisa Harbus, who entered his shop last Wednesday, is part of the same “crew” and intentionally wanted to start trouble. The security camera video, which has no audio, shows Harbus speaking to the barber for nearly five minutes as he cuts a customer’s hair. Her gestures and demeanor appear more angry as the encounter continues.
“She’s kind of in my face and says, ‘Me and my wife can’t walk down the street holding hands because of all the hate,’ but I’m telling you, nobody has an issue with that in Goffstown,” Prunier said. “There’s no hate like that here. We’re tolerant.
“I told her, you’re not getting crap because you’re gay — it’s how you’re representing yourself, that’s why you’re getting crap. I’ve been here for ten years and I haven’t seen any of this hate or harassment at all, or even heard about it, and you hear about everything happening in town when you’re running a barbershop. I mean everything.”
Harbus storms out, making “You’re part of the problem” her last words.
Boyer, who’s also the subject of the no-trespass orders, said she’s never set foot in the shop.
“I have never met the owner, I have never talked to him, and to the best of my knowledge, we have never had any in-person or online interactions,” Boyer told NHJournal. “I do not know why I was included in his online posting of the no-trespassing orders.
“My only guess is that I am a local LGBTQ+ elected official. That is obviously a broad assumption, but it is the only connection I can make.”
For the first offense, violating a no-trespassing order carries a misdemeanor penalty, while subsequent offenses can be treated as class B felonies if they result in property damage.
“She [Kelly Boyer] didn’t have anything to do with the situation; it’s just that the whole crew of them, I just wanted them to get the message that they’re the problem and to stay away from my business because they all work in cahoots,” Prunier said.
Prunier acknowledged he posted images of the no-trespassing orders to a private Goffstown Facebook page, where they were only visible to page members. The public version of the page—Goffstown, NH—The REAL Real Deal—features some discussion regarding the confrontation.
Jillian Bernat, a Goffstown resident whose name also appears on Prunier’s no-trespassing order, has accused Prunier of “doxing,” or sharing personally identifiable information when he elected to upload and share copies of the orders on social media.
“Regardless, his only complaint was that on her way out, she said, ‘You’re part of the problem,’ Bernat wrote. No matter the circumstance, nothing warrants what’s being done to her, least of all (five) words on your way out the door.”
Bernat did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, Prunier has one prominent Goffstown resident in his corner. Republican state Rep. Joe Alexander, who is gay, told NHJournal he defended Prunier in a Facebook post he made to the private group “and got great feedback on it.”
“There is a radical element in town that forces you to either conform or you are canceled,” Alexander wrote. “As a gay man and a Goffstown state representative, I am shocked at how far they are willing to go to force their views on others.
“As for me, I would fly an American flag only. Everyone is welcome to run their business as they see fit.”
Prunier said he was tired of remaining silent and that it was time for him to speak up.
“They say ‘hate has no home here,’ but my feeling is that’s exactly what they’re creating – hate — by way of creating more division and more anger,” he said.
