An East Tennessee hardware store owner decided to express his beliefs following the Supreme Court's ruling allowing same-sex marriage by putting up a sign that reads, "No Gays Allowed."
Jeff Amyx, who owns Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies in Grainger County, Tennessee., about an hour outside of Knoxville, added the "No Gays Allowed" sign because he says gay and lesbian couples are against his religion.
Amyx, who is also a baptist minister, said he realized Monday morning that LGBT people are not afraid to stand for what they believe in. He said it showed him that Christian people should be brave enough to stand for what they believe in.
"They gladly stand for what they believe in, why can't I? They believe their way is right, I believe it's wrong. But yet I'm going to take more persecution than them because I'm standing for what I believe in," Amyx said.
On Tuesday, Amyx removed the "No Gays allowed" sign and replaced it with a sign that says: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who would violate our rights of freedom of speech & freedom of religion."
I just sent this link to my mother, who lives outside of Knoxville (albeit south of the city), with the tag of "Please tell me you do not currently, nor will you ever, frequent this idiot's establishment."
I just sent this link to my mother, who lives outside of Knoxville (albeit south of the city), with the tag of "Please tell me you do not currently, nor will you ever, frequent this idiot's establishment."
Grainger is pretty far from Knoxville, it's basically in an area where no one would ever have a reason to go, esp if you live south or west of Knoxville. And even if you live in NE Knoxville, there's still plenty around you that would make it totally unnecessary to go there since it's about an hour away.
It's close to an area where all of the weirdest or most depressing stories come from, though, from what I can tell.
Post by secretlyevil on Jul 1, 2015 12:13:14 GMT -5
People need to hit him where it really hurts...his wallet. Of course that area doesn't seem to be a mecca of tolerance. However that's an ASSumption on my part.
People need to hit him where it really hurts...his wallet. Of course that area doesn't seem to be a mecca of tolerance. However that's an ASSumption on my part.
I imagine he doesn't have much in his wallet anyway. I've never been to Grainger County but East TN is pretty poor. I would also be surprised if anyone who frequented his hardware store gave a shit about him being an intolerant ass, but maybe I'm being too harsh.
People need to hit him where it really hurts...his wallet. Of course that area doesn't seem to be a mecca of tolerance. However that's an ASSumption on my part.
I imagine he doesn't have much in his wallet anyway. I've never been to Grainger County but East TN is pretty poor. I would also be surprised if anyone who frequented his hardware store gave a shit about him being an intolerant ass, but maybe I'm being too harsh.
Even if he closed, he'd have a gofundme page in a matter of days anyway.
I'd just change my ringtone to The Village People songs and have people call me while I shopped.
I imagine he doesn't have much in his wallet anyway. I've never been to Grainger County but East TN is pretty poor. I would also be surprised if anyone who frequented his hardware store gave a shit about him being an intolerant ass, but maybe I'm being too harsh.
Even if he closed, he'd have a gofundme page in a matter of days anyway.
I'd just change my ringtone to The Village People songs and have people call me while I shopped.
I'd be surprised if anyone there knew of go fund me. Or if someone outside the area set it up for him and he could actually access the money.
Where in eastern TN? Some areas are nice; it's the ones that are out further that are a little scary. We drive from Knoxville to Louisville, KY a lot and the area near the border of both states is what we fondly refer to as hillbilly hell.
How would he even know a customer's sexual orientation?
"Welcome to Amyx hardware! Oh, wait right there, please, sir. Here are several pictures of attractive penises, or at least that's what I'm told. I need you to look at them for ten solid seconds. I will manually monitor the girth and length of your penis during that time. If you should become aroused, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Something like that?
I'm actually glad bigots like this advertise themselves. Makes it easier to avoid them. Although, that's probably why he changed the sign to something less blatant.
I'm just trying to imagine what anyone could possibly do while in a hardware store to violate the owner's freedom of religion. I'm really trying VERY hard.
Post by sugarglider on Jul 1, 2015 14:39:23 GMT -5
"They gladly stand for what they believe in, why can't I? They believe their way is right, I believe it's wrong. But yet I'm going to take more persecution than them because I'm standing for what I believe in," Amyx said.
Here's what is going to happen. His Yelp page is going to get bombarded with fake reviews, and someone will vandalize his store with pictures of butt plugs. He'll go on TV to sob about how in tolerate the left is, and assholes all over the country will send him money. He will close and in a few months when the internet forgot about him, just reopen under a new name.
The guy probably has some debt he wants to pay off or was already thinking of closing, and is looking to make some money off the deal.