The Indiana pizzeria that made headlines on Wednesday for vowing never to cater a gay wedding decided to close it doors, at least temporarily, due to the backlash over the owner’s comments on gay marriage and the Indiana religious freedom law.
TMZ initially reported Wednesday afternoon that Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Ind., shut down, and Fox News confirmed the report Wednesday night on “The Kelly File.”
According to Fox, the restaurant owner, Kevin O’Connor, said that Memories was inundated with phone calls following news reports on his family’s views on same-sex marriage. O’Connor could not decipher which calls were made to place real orders and which were not, pushing him to close the pizzeria. He told Fox that he was unsure whether he would reopen.
“Because I don’t believe in something they want, they see fit to be angry about it,” O’Connor said about the backlash over his beliefs. “It’s really confusing to me. I’m just a little guy in a little tiny town. That’s where I’ve been all my life. It’s just been ugly. I don’t know what to call it.”
Kevin O’Connor’s daughter, Crystal O’Connor, told local TV station WBND on Tuesday that her family’s beliefs would keep them from catering a gay wedding during an interview about the Indiana religious freedom law that may permit discrimination against gays and lesbians. Kevin O’Connor defended their beliefs to WBND.
“That’s a lifestyle that you choose,” he said. “I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head because they choose that lifestyle?”
Following the Tuesday report, critics of the new Indiana law swiftly filled the pizzeria’s Yelp page with negative reviews and comments about the owners’ views on gay marriage.
Watch the Fox News report:
