This just in: Memories Pizza is officially out of business. A hand-written sign in the front window says the “Christian establishment” has been shuttered. No explanation has been given.
In case you need a refresher… The small town pizza joint located in Walkerton, Indiana made national headlines back in 2015 after the owners told a local news reporter that they wouldn’t cater a gay wedding in response to Indiana’s controversial “religious freedom and restoration act” signed by then-Governor Mike Pence.
“If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,” co-owner Crystal O’Connor told ABC 57 at the time. “We are a Christian establishment.”
The comments quickly went viral, resulting in the business receiving a barrage of crank phone calls, mean e-mails, and bad Yelp reviews and prompting them to go into hiding, but not before making a string of national media appearances.
In response to the controversy, Glenn Beck set up a Go-Fund-Me account for the owners and raised nearly $850,000 from almost 30,000 donors. Afterwards, co-owner Kevin O’Connor, a father of eight, said he’d “do the same thing again.”
“I’m just sorry it comes to this because neither one of us dislike any of those people,” he said at the time. “I don’t hold any grudges.”
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A year later, Mr. O’Connor gave another interview to local media, where he expressed regret over the current political landscape.
“Out of anger, there seems to be no getting along anymore,” he said. “If your opinion isn’t what somebody else’s is, then I’m a dirtbag. Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean I have to hate you.”
The O’Connors have not responded to any requests for comment over the closing of their Biblical pizzeria.
Related: Bigots banned from major crowdfunding sites, ‘But how are we supposed to make any money!?’
TheBigOne
I send them my thoughts and prayers……………………………..
BCbreeze
I would send them money again if they started another go-fund-me page. I wish them and the family all the best.
SammySeattle
Bigots of a feather….
Vince
@BCbreeze. So if I make a public announcement that I hate f*gs and don’t want them anywhere around me or my business and people respond in kind by posting bad Yelp reviews about me you’re going to help me out financially from the loss of business?
Vince
This wasn’t even some legal or state action. This is basically the community not wanting to give their money to bigots. That’s call free market baby.
GayEGO
Hopefully they learned not to be bigots while running a non-religious business!
happiness17
GayEgo-People like them won’t change. They were brought up to hate people who are different then they are. The hatred is embedded in them. What’s up with the woman’s blouse. It looks like she’s going to a costume party.
Aires the Ram
@GayEGO: They will never “learn” not to be bigots, that bigotry is ingrained in them. They didn’t even learn to keep their mouths shut, and apologize, right from the git-go. That ‘maybe, just ‘maybe’, would have saved all of this from happening, but they stuck to their guns. Like many on here have said, they worked the system.
vancouverdoug
They are laughing all the way to the bank with all the idiots that sent them money. Why work making mediocre food when you can retire with $$ from the rubes.
BCbreeze
And we all sing…. Bitch better have my money, bitch better have all my money. lol
Doug
Exactly. Why would anyone continue to run a pizza joint when they’ve profited almost a million dollars from their bigotry?
gymmuscleboy
Idiots that sent them money? What if you were a weapons supplier and a terrorist organisation wanted to buy your product? You are the anti-christ to them. It’s called freedom and it’s there for a reason. This is America.
gymmuscleboy
The subtext to your argument which I really don’t understand is what you hope to achieve by forcing people to serve you? Do you really think that is going to effect any permanent change? That is not how you change the minds and hearts of the people.
Vince
@gymmuscleboy. No one is forced to do anything. They were driven out of the business from places like Yelp. That’s how it works.
calpoidog
I would imagine they needed to pay taxes on that money so when we’re talking about retaining about half of it, you can’t live on $450k forever, even in Indiana.
I also agree that we’d be better served with avoiding these business rather than suing them however they should be required to put a large sign in their front window so everyone can make a decision about patronizing them.
rand503
Another few jobs lost and a business closed under Donald Trump’s MAGA. Good work, President Trump!
I guess they found out that getting almost $1M is easier than running a business.
happiness17
rand503-People aren’t suppose to profit from GoMeFriend funds. The money that these two losers got was collected to keep their so-called pizza
place a float. Or to help with legal fees.
Aires the Ram
All of this happened when Obama was President. To blame President Trump for this is pure ignorance.
It doesn’t even matter who was or wasn’t President anyhow. These people chose to wear their religious intolerance right on their sleeve, rather than keeping their religious beliefs private, and the market reacted. It’s called “business”. “Another few jobs…..”, what the hell are you talking about? Lowest black & hispanic unemployment in decades, millions of new jobs, manufacturing jobs beginning to return, but I guess you didn’t hear that on MSNBC or CNN now did you?
scotshot
@gymmuscleboy
Serving gay people or terrorists is apples to oranges. You con’t compare two entirely different situations.
There is no “forcing” from me to enter a restaurant and order a pizza. What “forces” them is Federal law which states you can’t pick and choose your clientele when you open your doors to the public as a business.
@ happiness17 There was no case and no lawsuit. Cakes by Melissa collected two – three times as much money and used it to live on as did the pizza peopler. There legal representation would have been pro bono.
@Aires the Ram The situation occurred while Obama was President,.Trump has now been President for 1 year and 97 days. The closing occurred under Trump, it goes on his score sheet. Besides, the closing may have been due to bad business practices as many in the town said they’d support him who hadn’t eaten there before. Apparently they didn’t.
Brian
No, they didn’t “go out of business.” They got rich and quit. Big difference.
Cylest Brooks
Important distinction, for sure.
Umoja
My thoughts too – why not just retire?
SammySeattle
“Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean I have to hate you.” Bigotry and discrimination are acts of hate.
paul dorian lord fredine
question: why did she marry her grandfather or is it just a family tradition? and if they’re not married why are they referred to as ‘a couple’?
Kangol
Bigoted grifters gonna grift.
MaxTaste
They found a bunch of fools to fund their retirement, not a bad scam.
gaym50ish
And they didn’t even have to turn away a gay couple to make that money, All they had to do was tell a reporter they WOULD turn them away, as if any gay couple would actually serve pizza at their wedding.
Vince
Wow they should get an award for the best scam of all. No legal fees. Just collect Their price.
djmcgamester
I don’t think these people know what it means to be Christian. They use their religion as a weapon and I can’t imagine that was the original intent.
DCguy
To the people saying they “Got Rich”
Remember, even a small business with a few employees can have a half million in operating costs a year. So they got money from outside donors, but if people in their town stopped actually patronizing their business that $850,000 could have been gone quickly.
It sounds like the typical bigot gofundme issue, people from outside their area send a few bucks but if there aren’t customers in that town willing to go to the business, they’ll still fold. Same thing happened with many of those “Christian” bakeries.
Terrycloth
It was time to retire…yeah right after $850,000 in go fund me money which is probably WAY more than the business was worth…they are Christians they don’t discriminate against anyone but YOU. I bet your Jesus didnt pick and choose who to help or not.. hope they have a big bank account that will last .you were there to sevrve the paying public..its a pizza not the coming of christ
Roan
An $850,000.00 TAX FREE windfall. That’s right. They do not pay tax on that money. Each separate donation is treated as individual gifts by the IRS. So they quite literally hit the bigot lottery and retired.
jmskfmn
Good Bye forever!!
Heywood Jablowme
I’m shocked that ALL of you are ignoring the most important thing here.
Where are gay couples in Indiana going to get pizza for their weddings???
Curtispsf
Little Caesar’s? /|\
surfpenis
They closed? Aw, too bad. Oh well, that’s the way the titty flops sometimes.
cdizz
I am in agreement with everyone that the former owners were shitty for not catering the wedding, but I always get nervous around issues of free speech and freedom of opinion. While I understand that businesses are secular, it still seems somewhat unconstitutional to tell a business owner that they have to take a customer’s order, even if the reason for that refusal is bigotry.
I mean, I wouldn’t want to be compelled by law to cater a party for bashers.
Yet on the other hand, we’re back to pre-civil rights movement days where you couldn’t get served because of the color of your skin….at what point does preventing discrimination become an encroachment on inalienable personal freedoms/rights, and at what point must we tolerate the opinions of those who would have us killed?
It feels like there are some contradictory angles here, but I sure as heck don’t have the answer. Anyway, have s good night!