Jeff Amyx, a baptist minister who owns Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies put up a sign with a terrible message: "No gays allowed." He put the sign because he's religiously opposed to gay and lesbian couples, and that he has no intent of taking the sign down.

The storeowner's actions invoke memories of similar signs that were used in the South prior to the Civil Rights Movement to enforce segregation, which is now illegal under federal law. But unlike discrimination against black people and other racial minorities, this type of discrimination against gay and lesbian people is totally legal not just in Tennessee, but most other states in the US.

Thirty-one states lack civil rights laws that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace, housing, or public accommodations (hotels, stores, and other places that serve the general public).