Memories Pizza Receives Donation From Gay Businesswoman
Memories Pizza has received a donation from a self-described gay woman who operates her own small business.
The previously obscure, small-town pizza parlor was subject to a huge amount of backlash and had to shut down temporarily after the Christian-owned eatery in Indiana told a local TV reporter that it would decline to cater a same-sex wedding for religious reasons. All this was happening amidst the controversy and hoopla surrounding the state’s Religioius Freedom Restoration Act which has since been modified.
While this controversy was raging, no one or hardly anyone seemed to question under what circumstances would a couple, gay or straight, ever want pizza for their wedding reception meal in the first place.
A GoFundMe page set up by Lawrence Jones of The Blaze has since raised over $840,000 for the embattled pizzeria. The family-owned business does plan to reopen.
Courtney Hoffman was one of the approximately 29,000 people making donations large and small to Memories Pizza. Accompanying Hoffman’s $20 donation was this message.
“As a member of the gay community, I would like to apologize for the mean-spirited attacks on you and your business. I know many gay individuals who fully support your right to stand up for your beliefs and run your business according to those beliefs. We are outraged at the level of hate and intolerance that has been directed at you and I sincerely hope that you are able to rebuild.”
Along these lines, a lesbian couple that operated a New Jersey T-shirt business of their own publicly expressed support last November for a Kentucky Christian-themed apparel company that declined to make T-shirts for a gay pride festival and wound up in legal jeopardy.
“No one really should be forced to do something against what they believe in. It’s as simple as that. And we feel likewise,” co-owner Diane DiGeloromo said at the time.
In an interview on the The Jeff Adams Show, Courtney Hoffman, who said she runs a small kettle-corn stand, explained that she decided to make a monetary contribution to the fundraiser because of the threats of violence and the hate-filled rhetoric against the pizzeria, actions which don’t reflect the larger gay community. She also added that being Christian and being gay aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive and reaffirmed that, in general, tolerance should be a two-way street.
“My girlfriend and I are small business owners, and we think there is a difference between operating in a public market space and then attaching the name of your business to a private event. Like, if we were asked to set up at an anti-gay marriage rally, I mean, we would have to decline…The gay community that we know knows full well what it’s like to be condemned for doing nothing except living your life according to your beliefs. The gay community we know has fought for a decade for us to live our lives out and proud without fear of violence or oppression. We know so many gay individuals that fully support the freedom of living your life according to your beliefs and feel that freedom extends to everyone, even the people that we don’t agree with.”
This is what equal tolerance looks like! Thank you for people like her. #RFRA #MemoriesPizza @DLoesch pic.twitter.com/9aIt1sG2ix
— Kris Cruz (@realKrisCruz) April 2, 2015
Similarly, a gay man gave the Memories Pizza fundraiser $250, “accusing the Democratic leadership of hijacking the gay community and promoting religious intolerance,” Breitbart News reported.
As The Inquisitr previously detailed in a story about the RFRA and Memories Pizza, conservative political pundit Tammy Bruce, who is gay, accused gay liberals of bullying Christians.
[Memories Pizza image via Twitter]
