Closed: Indiana Pizza Parlor That Won’t Cater Same-Sex Weddings Because, Jesus

An Indiana family-owned pizza restaurant says they’ve had to close down after telling reporters they support Gov. Pence’s anti-gay “religious freedom” law.

The O’Connor family in Walkerton, Indiana last night told reporters they would never refuse to serve gay people, but they could never cater a same-sex wedding. The owners of Memories Pizza for nine years, the O’Connors have religious images and ornaments lining the pizza parlor’s walls and cash register stand.

“If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,” Crystal O’Connor told ABC 57 News. “We are a Christian establishment.”

She says she fully supports Governor Pence’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, despite the firestorm surrounding the new law.

“I do not think it’s targeting gays. I don’t think it’s discrimination,” O’Connor said. “It’s supposed to help people that have a religious belief.”

Almost immediately, the restaurant’s Yelp page and Facebook page were flooded with negative reviews. 

UPDATE: Indiana Pizza Parlor That Won’t Cater Gay Weddings Gets $55,000 And Christian Martyr Status

It’s gotten so bad that Kevin O’Connor says he’s closing Memories Pizza, until things quiet down.

“Kevin O’Connor tells TMZ he’s had to temporarily close his business after he told a reporter he would refuse to cater a gay wedding under Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act. O’Connor says he was immediately flooded by threatening phone calls, and social media posting,” TMZ reports, adding, “he’s closing his pizza joint … at least until the dust settles.”

O’Connor earlier today told the Daily Beast, “I don’t have a problem with gay people, I do not condone gay marriage and that’s what I said.”

“I don’t turn anybody away from the store, I don’t have a problem with gay people. I just don’t condone the marriage.”

O’Connor said he’s never been asked to cater a wedding, and that the response was hypothetical in response to questions posed by the news crew. 

“It’s hard to speak when things get taken so out of context and this thing goes sky high and just blows everything up,” he said. “I’ve got a family to think about, too.”

“I mean, we don’t believe in murder. I also don’t believe in abortion,” he said when asked about other events he would feel conflicted about providing services for. When asked about pizza for weddings with divorced couples, O’Connor paused.

“You know, that’s something that I don’t have figured out in my own mind yet,” he said. “Because I’m divorced. So that’s something I don’t have figured out.”

He’ll be talking with Dana Loesch, a right wing activist at Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, at 6:00 PM EST this evening. 

 

Image via Facebook