After years of controversy, their doors are shut | Photo: Unsplash/Alexandra Gorn
A pizzeria in Indiana that came under scrutiny several years ago for refusing to cater gay weddings has shut down. This time, perhaps, for good.
According to the South Bend Tribune, a sign posted on Memories Pizza’s front doors in Walkerton, Indiana, indicated it closed sometime last month.
The messy history of the pizzeria
It all started in 2015.
Owners Kevin and Crystal O’Connor stated their restaurant would never cater a same-sex wedding. Their stance came in support of the state’s Freedom Restoration Act.
After receiving backlash, they temporarily closed their doors.
Then they received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and eventually re-opened.
While some supported the restaurant, others stood on the side of the LGBTQ community.
Actor Zach Braff offered to make pizza for a gay wedding and former President Barack Obama poked fun at the restaurant.
Several months after the initial controversy, the pizzeria unknowingly catered a gay wedding — or at least a gay vow renewal.
Then-Governor Mike Pence signed a revised version of the Freedom Restoration Act. The new version explicitly stated that businesses could not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
However, it seems like the closure this time around has nothing to do with all that. Walkerton residents reportedly said the owners were simply ready to retire.
