A Tennessee hardware store owner is celebrating the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple by posting a "no gays allowed" sign in front of his business.
Jeff Amyx, who owns Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies in Grainger County, Tennessee, initially put up the sign in 2015 after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage but later removed it following public backlash.
But the "no gays allowed" sign returned this week after the recent Supreme Court's decision, WBIR reports.
Amyx told the local news organization that the ruling, which he calls a victory for Christianity, came as a surprise to him.
"Christianity is under attack," Amyx claimed. "This is a great win – don't get me wrong – but this is not the end. This is just the beginning. Right now, we're seeing a ray of sunshine. This is 'happy days' for Christians all over America, but dark days will come."
Amyx initially posted the "no gays allowed" sign in front of his store in 2015 because "gay and lesbian couples were against his religion and he believed he should stand for what he believed in as a Christian," the local NBC affiliate notes.
But, due to intense criticism, he reportedly replaced it with a sign that read, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who would violate our rights of freedom of speech & freedom of religion."
Amyx added that he fears a future Supreme Court decision will come out differently.
In a narrow 7-2 decision written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Monday, the court said that "religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression.”
In addition, the court noted that Colorado law "can protect persons in acquiring products and services on the same terms and conditions that are offered to other members of the public, the law must be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion."
On Thursday, an Arizona appeals court ruled that a Phoenix-based calligraphy business cannot refuse to serve same-sex couples, upholding the city's anti-discrimination ordinance as constitutional. The decision cited Monday's Supreme Court decision.
This week's Supreme Court decision leaves unsettled the broader constitutional questions presented by the case, as it did not issue a definitive ruling on the circumstances under which people can seek exemptions from anti-discrimination laws based on their religious views.
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