Indiana Pizza Shop That Vowed Never To Cater A Gay Wedding Reopens

Many customers wait for service as Memories Pizza reopened for business Thursday, April, 9, 2015, in Walkerton, Ind. The restaurant was closed, and its operators said they'd gone into hiding after their comment that ... Many customers wait for service as Memories Pizza reopened for business Thursday, April, 9, 2015, in Walkerton, Ind. The restaurant was closed, and its operators said they'd gone into hiding after their comment that they would not serve pizza to a gay wedding prompted an avalanche of criticism on social media. Facing widespread pressure, including from big businesses, Indiana's Republican-controlled Legislature rolled back their states' new religious objections laws, which critics said could be used to discriminate against gays. (AP Photo/Tom Coyne) MORE LESS
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The Indiana pizzeria that closed its doors after wading into the heated debate over the Hoosier State’s “religious freedom” law reopened Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

Kevin O’Connor, the owner of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Ind., told the AP that customers quickly filled the restaurant after he opened up for business at 4 p.m. There were no protests around the shop, according to the report.

Memories Pizza was trolled by Yelp users last week after O’Connor and his daughter Crystal weighed in on Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act during an interview with a local news station. Crystal O’Connor had said that while gay customers were welcome to come into the pizzeria to eat, her family would have to refuse to cater a same-sex wedding if asked to do so because of their religious beliefs.

A fundraiser set up for the O’Connor family by employees of TheBlaze TV, Glenn Beck’s television network, raised more than $842,000 while Memories Pizza was shuttered. Kevin O’Connor told the AP that he’d spend some of that money for improvements around the pizza shop and planned to donate a portion of the funds to charity.

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