Barry Goldwater voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Bill. He correctly predicted that this bill would lead to ever expanding control over the lives of private citizens. It basically is where political correctness lodged itself into the fabric of American life.
Prior to this bill Americans could behave in a fashion guaranteed to offend the social justice crowd. That’s one of the hazards of a free society- some people will discriminate in ways that others don’t like and find grossly unfair. Politicians decided in 1964 that this was way too much freedom for individual Americans to have, and so this law gave government the power to reign in the riffraff and keep them from abusing their freedom. It’s been a Brave New World ever since.
The entire debate boils down to which should take precedent the owner's right to property or the person who is denied service's right to dignity.
There are legitimate arguments for each side, even though it is widely accepted that one's right to dignity take precedent over another's right to use his property to serve only those whom they chooses to serve.
The clumsy way in which we resolve it has devolved into political correctness run amok. I would venture to say that our society should have grown up enough that it could resolved in some other way-- such as requiring an establishment post a sign outlining the types of people whom they will not serve, hire, etc.
People thus affected would then be free to take their business elsewhere.
Just as an example, when I lived in Japan, places seeking workers would often specify gender and age range. They would also specify native Japanese or invite foreigners to apply.
In some cases, it was quite offensive and the age/gender/nationality thing had no meaningful bearing on the job advertised. But it was also helpful as people using the advertisements could avoid wasting time skipping over the ads for which they didn't meet the specification.
Contrast the openly discriminatory Japanese system to the subtly discriminatory American system-- few of our corresponding "Help Wanted" ads are clear, although you can get some clues with key phrases such as "great part-time job for a housewife" or "women and minorities strongly encouraged to apply." You know darn well that if you are, say, a 50 something non minority male, you would be wasting your time applying for such jobs. But there are many more who do not use these code phrases and would simply find some other excuse not to hire the age/gender/color which they are NOT targeting. How much better it would be if they simply had the freedom which the Japanese enjoy to specify it outright!