A family-run pizzeria in Indiana is being savaged on the Internet after its Christian proprietors said on local television Tuesday that they would not cater a gay wedding, and that the state's new religious freedom law is there to protect business owners like them, according to reports.
The backlash against Memories Pizza in Walkerton has already resulted in the suspension and criminal investigation of a local high school girl's golf coach, who allegedly posted a threat on Twitter to "burn down" the Christian-owned pizza and ice cream shop,
ABC 57 in South Bend reports.
The eatery's customer feedback page on
Yelp is now flooded with hundreds of negative posts from across the United States, with Yelp reviewers blasting the owners for their religious views as well as their food — whether or not the commenters have ever set foot in the place.
"I would never eat here," wrote a Yelp reviewer from Titusville, Florida.
"I don't live in Indiana … but I hope this place goes out of business stat," wrote a commenter from Houston, Texas.
Memories landed in the culture-war crossfire after members of the O'Connor family, which owns the establishment, told
ABC 57 they support the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) signed into law last week by Republican Gov. Mike Pence.
"I do not think it's targeting gays," Crystal O'Connor said of the law, which Pence is scrambling to revise in the wake of widespread criticism and threatened boycotts. "I don’t think it's discrimination. It's supposed to help people that have a religious belief."
Crystal and her father, Kevin O'Connor, said they have no problem serving gay people but because of their religious beliefs would not cater a same-sex wedding if asked.
"We would have to say no," she said.
Her father, Kevin O'Connor, said of homosexuality, "That lifestyle is something they choose. … Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?"
The television interview
went viral, prompting a furious response, including profane Yelp reviews with graphic, gay-themed photographs.
Some Yelp reviewers came to the pizzeria's defense.
"All of you on here harassing these people are disgusting," wrote a commenter from Baltimore, Maryland. "I'm gay and I happen to think these people standing up for what they believe is a good thing. The real bigots are uncivil savages like you with your intolerance towards their religion."
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