Indiana Pizza Restaurant Says It Wouldn’t Cater a Gay Wedding, Supports Religious Freedom Law
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iStock/Thinkstock(WALKERTON, Ind.) — The operators of a pizza restaurant in Indiana reportedly say they support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence and wouldn’t be willing to cater a gay wedding.
The owners of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, near the border with Michigan, told ABC News’ South Bend, Indiana, television affiliate WBND that they don’t support gay marriage because of their religious beliefs, adding that they would be willing to serve gay or lesbian customers who come to their restaurant, just not a wedding.
“If a gay couple was to come in — like say, they wanted us to provide them pizzas for a wedding, we would have to say ‘no,’” Crystal O’Connor of Memories Pizza told WBND, calling the business a “Christian establishment.”
“We’re not discriminating against anyone,” O’Connor told WBND. “It’s just that’s our belief, and everybody has the right to believe in anything.
“We definitely agree with the bill,” O’Connor told WBND, referring to a state measure that prohibits state and local government from infringing on someone’s religious beliefs without a “compelling” interest.
On Wednesday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he wants his state’s legislature to alter a religious-freedom bill in that state that is similar to the one signed into law by Indiana Gov. Pence just last week, saying, “We want to be known as a state that does not discriminate but understands tolerance.” Pence has said his state also hopes find a way to clarify that its law does not encourage discrimination.
Of the Indiana law, O’Connor said, “I don’t think it is targeting gays. I don’t think it’s discrimination. …It’s supposed to help people that have a religious belief.”
“That’s a lifestyle that you choose,” Kevin O’Connor, Crystal’s father, told WBND. “I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head because they choose that lifestyle?”
Memories Pizza did not answer the phone when ABC News called Wednesday, and a Yelp page for the restaurant said it would not be open until the late afternoon. Attempts to reach members of the O’Connor family by phone individually were unsuccessful Wednesday morning.
By 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the restaurant’s Yelp page had 243 reviews with an average one-star rating, including criticism of the owner’s statements to WBND and images of gay couples. The page had only two reviews before Wednesday.
“Jesus Christ did not discriminate when he fed the masses with the loaves and fishes,” one Yelp reviewer wrote. “And on other numerous occasions…dined with people of questionable moral character. Who are we to judge others?”
Another Yelp reviewer wrote, “No self-respecting Gay couple is going to serve pizza at their wedding, ever.”
The O’Connor family has owned Memories Pizza for nine years, WBND reported.
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