A RESPONSE TO A STORE’S “NO GAYS ALLOWED” SIGN

…Jeff Amyx, Hardware Store proprietor in Grainger County, Tennessee

A candid response to a Southern religious bigot.

You may recall a few years ago, after same-sex-marriage was approved in a number of the states, some bakeries refused to bake wedding cakes for gay weddings as it was against the bakery owner’s religious beliefs.  Well, now that the US Supreme Court has made same-sex-marriage legal in all the US states, this issue has been taken to a whole new level.

Amyx Hardware in Grainger County, Tennessee, is just your normal, day to day, run-of-the-mill Southern hardware store. The owner of this store is a Mr. Jeff Amyx.

Since Mr. Amyx does not like or agree with the homosexual lifestyle, he is not happy about the High Court's latest ruling. And, Jeff, by his own admission is "a very blunt person."

In response to last week's Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling, Mr. Amyx, became upset and taped a hand written, "No Gays Allowed" sign to his storefront window.

Amyx, who is also a local Baptist minister, explained to the local TV station reporter that he realized gay people are not afraid to stand up for themselves.  So he decided to post his sign to "let the homosexual people know that there are Christian people that are willing to also take a stand." He said he wasn't worried about his business suffering and he had no intentions of taking the sign down.

However, Mr. Amyx said he'd been encouraged by friends to make his notice a little nicer, “because he’s such a very blunt person," so Mr. Amyx changed his sign to the following.”

 

 

But Jeff Amyx wants to make sure one thing is crystal clear.  Per Mr. Amyx: “I don’t hate people. It’s not the people I hate, it’s the sin that I hate.”

However, a local news reporter decided to discuss Mr. Amyx’s sign with a gay friend who did not agree with the changes Mr. Amyx made to his sign. 

This individual told the reporter that the new sign sounded more like it applied to a communist dictator, not to a gay man or a lesbian. 

This gay individual, who is a strong supporter of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, said he would never have thought that the new sign applied to him.  He said he probably would have just walked in and purchased his needed items of “hammers, nails and paint brushes”. 

 

He also added with a grin that he would have been very surprised if his flannel shirt and Birkenstock sandals actually set off the owner’s “Gay-dar” detector.

This gay man also made it very clear that he certainly would not consider “ordering a wedding cake from a bakery owned by a guy who thinks I'm going to hell”.

Going even further, this friend stated that “I have absolutely no desire to purchase bouquets from a florist who pickets Gay Pride parades. And the suggestion that I would be insane enough to want to force a homophobic clergyperson to preside over my most sacred wedding day is beyond insulting. ”

He finished with, “Contrary to the stereotype of a toolbox-toting gay, local hardware stores are not one of my regular destinations.  In fact, I usually make that kind of purchase from Lowe’s or Home Depot.  I do that just for avoiding the possible religious proclivities of the local hardware store’s proprietor.”

His said that his message to Preacher Amyx and their ilk was, “Be blunt.!  If your message is ‘No Gays Allowed,’ then put the sign out there, loud and proud. Let me know you don't want me in your store, and I'll steer clear. And please, post similar signage if you want to exclude Jews, African-Americans or any other minority group, because that will likewise inform everyone for making their decisions as a consumer.”

But what really bothered this gay man was all the underground hating store owners who don’t put a sign on their front doors.  Those store owners that silently seethe about his gay lifestyle, but who will happily take his money.  Then they take that same money and give it to the anti-gay, National Organization for Marriage or the conservative Family Research Council or even the KKK.  “You know, those organizations that will use that money for trying to take away my civil rights.”

He became livid, stating that if the owner of a store that was open to the public and didn’t support his freedom to marry whomever he wished, they should have the guts to come out and say it. He said, “They should exercise their constitutional right to free speech, and I'll support that. Then I'll exercise my capitalist right to purchase from their competitor.” 

 

He stated that he would proudly then spend his money with his allies, instead of the haters.

I found this individual’s open views quite refreshing, especially after reading and hearing the disgusting statements and accusations from some of the serious gay-haters.  This person’s right to be with, and to marry whomever he chooses, does absolutely nothing to harm Mr. Amyx or anyone in his family or in his congregation.  It’s none of their business.  And preacher Amyx and his family have no need to have anything to do with this gay individual’s lifestyle or his family.

Life in America would be so much better if and when, everybody just minded their own business.

And Mr. Amyx needs to understand that by selling his products to someone that believes different from him, that is not supporting that other individual’s lifestyle.

Copyright G.Ater  2015