The Real Story Is That Memories Pizza Served A Gay Couple. It Did Not Discriminate Against Them!

Gay Couple Ordered Two Large Pies From Memories Pizza. What They Did Next Is Getting a Lot of Attention.

Sep. 29, 2015 2:19pm Billy Hallowell

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A gay couple says that Memories Pizza — the Indiana restaurant at the center of controversy earlier this year after its owner said she wouldn’t cater a same-sex wedding — inadvertently provided food for their nuptials.

GayCo Productions/YouTube

Robin Trevino, a member of GayCo Productions, an Illinois-based comedy ensemble that focuses on LBGT issues, released a video documenting the drive from his home in Illinois to Walkerton, Indiana, where he bought two large pizzas from Memories.

“Memories Pizza will be catering our gay wedding,” he says in the clip. “They have no idea that this is going to happen, but it’s happening.”

Trevino recorded his purchase of the pizzas at Memories, declining to tell staff members at the pizza shop that the food would be served at his wedding reception.

“Can I order two large pizzas for carry-out?” Trevino said as he placed his order.

He then brought the pizzas back to Illinois, where he and his husband, Jason Delgatto, served it as part of their legal wedding ceremony on Sept. 26, according to the Friendly Atheist blog.

“Okay, Memories, thanks for catering my gay wedding,” he proclaims in the clip.

Of course, the business seemingly had no idea what the pizzas would be used for when the order was placed.

Watch the video below:

The clip, which is posted on the GayCo Productions YouTube page, is part of a “50 States of Gay” series that the ensemble is producing to celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Repeated calls to Memories Pizza seeking comment went unanswered.

Crystal O’Connor, one of the shop’s owners, made headlines earlier this year after she said, “If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no.”

We Need More Thinking People Like Courtney Hoffman.

Gay Woman Who Donated To Christian Pizzeria Owners In Indiana Explains Why

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By Matiss Batarags, Tue, April 7, 2015

The owners of the Indiana pizzeria that said they would refuse to cater a gay wedding were forced to temporarily suspend service after a slew of online threats. The pizzeria was reopened after supporters donated more than $842,000. However, at least one of those donations came from an unexpected source.

Courtney Hoffman, a gay woman, donated $20 to Memories Pizza even though the owners admitted they would refuse to cater a gay wedding. However, the owners did say that they serve gay customers in their restaurant in the same local news interview.

Hoffman attached a note to her donation, which read, “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.”

She concluded, “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.”

Kris Cruz, producer of a radio show called “The Jeff Adams Show,” discovered Hoffman’s donation and attached comment. Cruz contacted Hoffman through Facebook and convinced her to do an interview on the show.

Hoffman told the radio hosts, “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,” she said.

Hoffman added that she was disturbed by the violent and hateful threats made against the pizzeria owners. Many of those comments were made by gay individuals, which surprised Hoffman.

She explained: “The gay community that we know knows full well what it’s like to be condemned for doing nothing but living your life according to your beliefs. 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.”

Hoffman said she was nervous in anticipation of what the reaction towards her would be like. However, she said that she has received support and positive reactions.

Hoffman said that she realizes people have different beliefs and often those are breaking points in society. However, she stressed the importance of trying to find some middle ground.

“I just think there’s a lot of room for differences and similarities between all of these businesses, all of these communities, and if we can remember that differences don’t equal maliciousness, and try to find what we have in common — you know, the ands instead of the ors. Maybe we can move beyond threats of violence and have open discussions of the things that we don’t agree on.”

When The Government Forces You To Do Something Or Not To Do Something , Is That Not Tyranny?

Indiana Freedom of Religion

March 30, 2015 By KrisAnne Hall 2 Comments

The Indiana law known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is intended to give citizens protection from federal coercion and encroachment upon religious conscience.  It is intended specifically to protect conscientious objectors from participating in acts contrary to their religiously held beliefs and to allow them to seek relief against the violators of their religious conscience.  In truth there is a flaw in this apparently well-intended law. And here it is from the text of the law itself:

“Sec. 6. A state action, or an action taken by an individual based upon a state action, may not substantially burden a person’s right to the exercise of religion, even if that burden results from a law or policy of general applicability unless the state or political subdivision of the state demonstrates that applying that burden to the person’s exercise of religion is: (1) essential to further a compelling government interest…”

This law, like many other 1st Amendment Preservation Acts creates a loophole for the government to justify their violations.  These acts change the First Amendment standard from “shall not abridge” to the government CAN abridge as long as they can show “a compelling government interest” for their infringements.  It is the same loophole that the government uses to justify circumventing the 4th Amendment to read your emails and collect your internet and phone data: a compelling government interest in national security.

According to this law, the government could perhaps argue they have a “compelling government interest” to prevent discrimination against ALL classes of people, and viola! the act is meaningless.  As a result this law actually gives legal justification for the very violations it was created to prevent!

This is the danger of compensating for an unbounded GOVERNMENT exercising a power contrary to Liberty and freedom of conscience. While it is the rightful remedy for states to intercede for its citizens, it is very dangerous when it is not done properly.  We may just set up new precedents to further weaken the liberties we are attempting to protect.

What we desperately need is more constitutional education and fewer laws.

As a side note:  I believe anyone has the right to discriminate against me for the color of my skin, my religion, or even the smell of my perfume if they so choose. I trust Liberty.  I believe in the free market system.  I never trust the government to have the power to force someone to do or not do something.  I believe I have the Liberty to go somewhere else.  I do not have a RIGHT to shop anywhere I want.  But if a store owner discriminates against me, I reserve the right to boycott and encourage all my friends to boycott this business into bankruptcy.  

Comparing the “white only” issues of the 50s & 60s is a misapplication of circumstances.  The “white only” discriminations were a result of a law created BY government prohibiting service based upon race.  

In truth, there is no difference between a government using the force of law to prohibit a business owner from serving someone than a government using the force of law to require a business owner to serve someone.  Either way it is tyranny.

Here is a more in depth explanation if you like: http://goo.gl/oqxylz

Memories Pizza Shop Owners Show The World They Are NOT The Haters That The Haters Have Implied.

Here’s How The Embattled Owners Of Memories Pizza Plan To Share Their New-found Fortune

As much as they and their tiny restaurant could use all that money...

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NORVELL ROSE — APRIL 7, 2015

In a recent post about the small Indiana pizza shop that came under fire for the owners’ stand against catering a hypothetical gay wedding, Western Journalism told you about the amazing amount of money supporters donated to provide financial relief after bitter controversy and threats forced the family-owned restaurant to close.

Memories Pizza, run by Kevin O’Connor and his daughter Crystal in the tiny town of Walkerton, Ind., plans to re-open on Wednesday. The O’Connors say they’re incredibly grateful for all the encouragement from friends and customers, and for the more than $842,000 that some 30,000 well-wishers donated through a GoFundMe campaign. Individuals associated with The Blaze set up the fundraising effort.

In a report that first appeared in The Daily Mail, Mr. O’Connor says that as much as his little pizza parlor could use all that money — he explains that Memories sells “a little over 100 pizzas a week” — he and his daughter plan to share their newfound wealth.

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“They revealed they are set to share their new fortune with disabled children, a women’s help group, firefighters, police trusts, Christian churches, and Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman, 70, who was fined after declaring she would not serve a gay wedding.”

You may recall that the elderly florist was slapped with a $1,000 fine last month after she declined to sell flowers for the 2013 wedding of longtime gay customers. A judge ruled that Stutzman, a Christian with deeply-held religious beliefs, violated the Washington state law against discrimination.

As for his religious beliefs and how they may have been influenced by the furor over his pizza parlor’s backing of Indiana’s recently enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Kevin O’Connor tells The Daily Mail he still feels the same about not supporting a gay marriage celebration.

“‘If any child of mine came out as gay and entered into a gay marriage, I would still love them, but Daddy wouldn’t be going to the wedding.'”

And here are O’Connor’s thoughts about all the hateful comments and frightening threats of violence made against his business and his family:

“I don’t hate these people. They are just angry. I am not really sure what they are so angry about.

So many things today are topsy turvey. What used to be wrong is now right and what used to be right is now wrong. I don’t hold anything against them.”

When Christians Are Supported By Act, Deed Or Speech, Those Supporters Are Mocked And Condemned. All One Has To Look At Is The Hypothetical Comment By The Owner Of Memories Pizza. This Is A Sad Day In America.

Megyn Kelly: Obama Scolding Christians Could Have Chilling Effect

(Andrew Harrer/UPI/Landov)

Wednesday, 08 Apr 2015 01:43 PM

By Jennifer G. Hickey

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Fox News host Megyn Kelly believes President Barack Obama's recent comments about the "less-than-loving expressions by Christians" could have a chilling effect on those who want to speak out against ongoing religious persecution of their religious brethren.

"I mean, the question is whether those comments do real damage not just to morale among Christians about what their own president thinks of them, but… that they feel he won't stand up for Christians who are under threat," Kelly said last night on "The Kelly File," according to Mediaite.

Kelly was reacting to off-script comments made by Obama to an audience at Tuesday'sEaster Prayer Breakfast in which he reflected upon his own faith.

"On Easter, I do reflect on the fact that as a Christian, I am supposed to love. And I have to say that sometimes when I listen to less-than-loving expressions by Christians, I get concerned," he said possibly referring to the current controversy over religious freedom legislation in Arkansas, Indiana, and several other states.

"But that's a topic for another day… I was about to veer off. I'm pulling it back," the president added.

Kelly took exception to the timing of Obama's criticism.

"His remarks come as Christians are increasingly being targeted by terrorists worldwide," she added, referring to the 147 Christians who were killed in a recent attack at a university in Kenya.

The president's decision to publicly scold Christians is not the first time he has created controversy.

In a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in February, Obama called on the audience not to forget the "terrible deeds" people have committed in the name of Christ.

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"Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ," noted Obama.

Obama's Easter Prayer Breakfast comments came after Pope Francis used his Easter homily to urge the global community to speak out against the persecution of Christians.

Pope Francis urged "concrete participation and tangible help in defense and protection of our brothers and our sisters, who are persecuted, exiled, slain, beheaded, solely for being Christian," according to Reuters.

Obama's repeated references to the sins of Christians while not discussing the religious affiliation of the perpetrators of the attacks exposes a fundamental hypocrisy, says Nina Shea, the director for Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom.

"In an attack in Syria over the past weekend, the administration had no problem expressing condolences for the Alawites and Ismailis who were murdered," Shea told The Christian Post. "This is in stark contrast to President Obama and the State Department's failure to mention that Christians were hunted down and executed in Kenya during the same period. This is a typical pattern for the administration."

Related Stories:

• Obama Calls Out 'Less Than Loving' Christians at Prayer Breakfast
• Obama Wrong on Christianity

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Bravo To Courtney Hoffman.She Has Guts! Will Probably Be Condemned By Fellow Gays, Which Illustrates The Sad State Of Affairs In This Country!

Gay Woman Who Donated $20 to Christian-Owned Indiana Pizzeria Reveals Why She Took Bold Stand

Apr. 6, 2015 4:21pm Jason Howerton

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A gay woman who donated $20 to Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, is speaking out about her decision to take a stand in support of all Americans’ right to live their lives according to their beliefs.

Courtney Hoffman was one of thousands of people who donated over $842,000 to the Christian owners of the pizzeria last week after a high volume of online threats caused the business to temporarily close its doors. The outrage ensued after the owners told a local news crew that they would happily serve gay people in its restaurant, but would refuse to cater a gay wedding.

Courtney Hoffman (Facebook)

That’s why Hoffman’s donation stood out. While she clearly disagrees with the owners’ beliefs, she still supports their right to operate their business based on those beliefs. In addition to her $20 donation to Memories Pizza, Hoffman wrote:

“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.”

Kris Cruz, a radio host and producer of “The Jeff Adams Show,” was the first person to flag Hoffman’s donation. He then contacted her through Facebook and she agreed to join them on the air Monday.

Cruz started with the “big question” — Why did she do it?

“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,” she said. “Like, if we were asked to set up at an anti-gay marriage rally, I mean, we would have to decline.”

Listen to the interview via “The Jeff Adams Show” and JA Creative New Media (interview starts at around 16:55):

Hoffman said she and her girlfriend operate a small kettle corn stand.

When the disturbing threats of violence were made against the pizzeria, Hoffman said the “horrible, hate-filled attacks” did not reflect the gay community that she has come to know and love.

“The gay community that we know knows full well what it’s like to be condemned for doing nothing but living your life according to your beliefs,” she added. “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.”

Though she admitted she was nervous to have so much attention on her, Hoffman also said the responses to her donation have been “so positive and amazing.” But more than anything, Hoffman said she’d like to see people become more tolerant in general.

“There’s this tendency to group people together — they are either one thing or they are another,” she said. “I just think there’s a lot of room for differences and similarities between all of these businesses, all of these communities, and if we can remember that differences don’t equal maliciousness, and try to find what we have in common — you know, the ands instead of the ors. Maybe we can move beyond threats of violence and have open discussions of the things that we don’t agree on.