This Is Legal

Now that the celebration over the Supreme Court is dying down, look what happened in Tennessee and it is perfectly legal.

Tennessee Hardware Store Puts Up 'No Gays Allowed' SignThe owner, a Baptist minister, says 'I'm standing for what I believe in' and has no plans to take the sign down.The Advocate
By Dawn Ennis
June 30, 2015

The owner of an east Tennessee hardware store placed an anti-LGBT sign in the window of his business that he says expresses his religious beliefs. The sign, handwritten on a blank piece of 8-by-10-inch paper, says in all capital letters, "NO GAYS ALLOWED."

Jeff Amyx, who owns Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies in Grainger County, Tenn., says he taped the sign to his store's window in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage and because he feels gay and lesbian relationships are against his religion.

Tennessee has no legal protection for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people, but they do have marriage equality.

Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, or national origin in certain places of public accommodation, such as hotels, restaurants, and places of entertainment. The Department of Justice can bring a lawsuit under Title II when there is reason to believe that a person has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination in violation of Title II. The Department can obtain injunctive, but not monetary, relief in such cases. Individuals can also file suit to enforce their rights under Title II and other federal and state statutes may also provide remedies for discrimination in places of public accommodation.

What needs to be added to all of the sections is sexual orientation and gender identity and expression and in the case of Title II sex. Guess what the conservatives were afraid of if they added sex to Title II… bathrooms!

The different sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are,

• Title I - Barred unequal application of voter registration requirements.
• Title II - Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin in public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce.
• Title III - Prohibited state and municipal governments from denying access to public facilities on grounds of race, color, religion or national origin.
• Title IV - Encouraged the desegregation of public schools and authorized the U.S. Attorney General to file suits to enforce said act.
• Title V - Expanded the Civil Rights Commission established by the earlier Civil Rights Act of 1957 with additional powers, rules and procedures.
• Title VI - Prevents discrimination by government agencies that receive federal funds. If an agency is found in violation of Title VI, that agency may lose its federal funding.
• Title VII - Prohibits discrimination by covered employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin
• Title VIII - Required compilation of voter-registration and voting data in geographic areas specified by the Commission on Civil Rights.
• Title IX - Made it easier to move civil rights cases from state courts with segregationist judges and all-white juries to federal court. This was of crucial importance to civil rights activists who could not get a fair trial in state courts.
• Title X - Established the Community Relations Service, tasked with assisting in community disputes involving claims of discrimination.
• Title XI -  Gives a defendant accused of certain categories of criminal contempt in a matter arising under title II, III, IV, V, VI, or VII of the Act the right to a jury trial.

And Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities.