Shop owner receives backlash after putting up “No Gays Allowed” sign

Earlier this week, Jeff Amyx put up a “No Gays Allowed” sign at his Tennessee shop, Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies, following the US Supreme Court’s historic ruling on same-sex marriage.

“The reason I put up the sign is to let the homosexual people know that there are Christian people that are willing to take a stand,” Amyx told local news channel WATE.

After the handwritten sign was posted on the shop window, the store’s phone began ringing non-stop. “A lot of people have called me and congratulated me,” Amyx said. He added that he also received several threats from people who said he would regret the sign.

“No, I’ll never regret this,” he said.

Amyx later took down the sign and replaced it with a new one, which read, “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who would violate our rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.”

On the new sign, Amyx told WATE, “People told me I ought to make it a little nicer because I’m a very blunt person.”

In response to the controversial signs, an anonymous Tennessee local has set up a Facebook page calling for the boycott of Amyx Hardware.

“This page is not intended to encourage and does not condone harassment of Mr. Amyx, his family or his employees,” the creator wrote in a recent post. “We are ALL about contacting his suppliers, his community and his regulating agencies to advise them of Mr. Amyx’s views and ask that if they do not share similar views to please re-consider doing business with and/or supporting Amyx’s Hardware.”

Others took to Yelp and Yellow Pages to air their sides in reviews that had nothing to do with the store.

Yellow Pages has suspended the reviews for Amyx Hardware. Yelp has been taking negative reviews, although a few are still up as of this writing.