Tennessee Senator Thrown Out of Restaurant for Antigay Stance | News | The Advocate

Tennessee Senator Thrown Out of Restaurant for Antigay Stance | News | The Advocate

A bistro in Knoxville, Kentucky is doing its part for gay rights. It refused to serve state Sen. Stacey Campfield, following his recent comments that straight people seldom get AIDS.

Martha Boggs, owner of the Bistro at the Bijou, asked the Republican legislator to leave her restaurant Sunday.

"He's gone from being stupid to dangerous," Boggs said today. "It's just my way of standing up to a bully."

Campfield is the man behind the controversial Don't Say Gay bill, which would ban schools from teaching anything about gays. Only sexuality involving "natural human reproduction" would be permitted in classrooms.

Then he made news last week after claiming the AIDS virus developed after men had sex with monkeys. He also stated that the disease was "virtually impossible" to contract via heterosexual intercourse.

So when Campfield walked through the bistro door during Sunday brunch, Boggs told him he wasn't welcome.

"I asked him to leave the restaurant to take a stand for the gay community and to let him know what it feels like to be discriminated against," said Boggs."He didn't have much to say. He left graciously."

On Monday, the sign in front of the Bistro today read, "Today's Special: Fried Chicken. Crispy Chicken Livers. No Stacey."

Tenn. Gov: "Don't Say Gay" Bill a Longshot

Tenn. Gov: "Don't Say Gay" Bill a Long Shot

In an interview with Nashville's City Paper, Gov. Bill Haslam said he is tired of the media attention to the bill, which would prohibit teachers from discussing homosexuality in public school classes in kindergarten through eighth grade.
By Andrew Harmon
Gov. Bill Haslam Tennessee governor Bill Haslam is tired of the media attention yo the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would prohibit teachers from discussing homosexuality in public school classes in kindergarten through eighth grade.

"The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill didn’t pass and probably is never going to pass," Haslam said in an interview with Nashville's City Paper.

Comparing the bill to reporting on the appointment of the first superintendent to run the new state Achievement School District, he added, "'Don’t Say Gay' is real sexy and yada yada yada. It’s not going anywhere.

Tennessee Green Lights Discrimination

Tennessee Green Lights Discrimination

Tennessee legislature passes and governor signs bill overturning and prohibiting cities from passing non-discrimination ordinances or policies to protect LGBT people from discrimination.

Companies Targeted in TN Anti-Gay Law Passage

Gay Rights advocates began calling out companies that were part of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce which supported the bill.  Many of the issued statements opposing the bill and asking the governor to veto it, AFTER the bill was already passed and signed!

TN Govenor Reverses Nashville Metro Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Strike another blow to LGBT civil rights in Tennessee

Gov. Bill Haslam has signed the bill reversing Metro's new nondiscrimination ordinance, dealing a blow to opponents who had mounted a campaign urging him to veto the bill.

The bill effectively reverses an ordinance passed by the Metro Council that required contractors with the city to agree to follow Metro's rules barring discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgendered people.

The move comes despite an effort by opponents of the bill to convince Haslam not to sign the bill, which passed by a more than two-thirds margins in the Republican-led state legislature. Gay rights activists from across the country have been pushing companies to issue statements against with the legislation.

The campaign led the executive committee of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had supported the bill while it was in the legislature, to reverse its position Monday.

"The Tennessee Chamber supports a standard regulatory environment at the state level as opposed to potentially conflicting local regulations covering employment practices," the executive committee said in a statement released late Monday.

"That principle was the only interest the Chamber had in this bill. Because (the bill) has turned into a debate on diversity and inclusiveness principles, which we support, we are now officially opposing this legislation in its present form."

From The Tennessean

AmericaBlog has been been closely following the anti-gay legislation in Tennessee and helped launch a nationwide campaign to boycott the companies which had supported the TN Chamber of Commerce's support of the anti-gay bill.

Tennessee Dismantles Anti-Discrimination Ordinances

It's been a sad week in Tennessee as the Teapublican controlled state legislature passes a series of anti-gay bills to override local non-discrimination ordinances, such as one recently passed in Nashville, and another bans discussion of homosexuality and gay issues in public elementary schools.

Tennessee Dismantles Anti-Discrimimation Ordinances

"Don't Say Gay Bill" Passes in Tenn. Senate

TN Lesbian Couple Victim of Hate Crime

Lesbian couple in Vonore says house fire is hate crime

Carol Ann and Laura Stutte, long-time life partners who have been together for 15 years and are raising a daughter in the small town of Vonore, Tennessee, just south of Knoxville, reported that they received numerous threats from a neighbor–including a threat to “kill them and burn down their house”–over the span of the five years they lived in the town. On September 4th, their house was burned down to the ground and their garage was spray painted with the word “queers.

Gratefully Carol and Laura Stutte were away when the house burned. But they lost everything.

Police have confirmed that this was a case of arson. Investigators are currently conducting interviews about the crime. Tennessee has a hate crime penalty enhancement law that includes property hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation – the federal hate crime statute does not include property crimes.

PLAG Maryville is Taking Donations to Help the Couple

Nashville Passes Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Nashville Passes Non-Discrimination Ordinance
An ordinance prohibiting discrimination against LGBT municipal employees in Nashville passed the city council on Tuesday.

The bill passed by the Nashville metro council bans discrimination against city employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In the final vote for the hard-fought ordinance, the tally was 24 council members in favor, 15 opposed, and one absent member, according to The Tennessean.

Tennessee is starting to catch up to most of the rest of the country on LGBT civil rights. Earlier this year the Shelby County (Memphis) commissioners passed a watered down resolution against discrimination against anyone based on any non-job related criteria including sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.