For some fifty years, there was a sign at a restaurant called Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood, California, that proudly read “Fagots—Stay Out.” The restaurant’s owner was so proud of his misspelled sign that he even was photographed in front of it for a 1964 article in Life magazine called “Homosexuality in America.” While the sign was eventually ripped down when West Hollywood became its own city, the attitude remains to this day, as it does in many towns across the country. Case in point: Memories Pizza and Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts.
You probably would never have heard about Walkerton, Indiana, if it weren’t for Memories Pizza on Route 6 in this town of 2,200. Walkerton is so small you can cover the entire town on foot in half-an-hour. Memories gained instant notoriety last April when the daughter of owner Kevin O’Connor said that, if asked, she would refuse to cater a same-sex wedding because of her religious beliefs.
Never mind that no gay would ever dream of serving pizza at a wedding–even one in Indiana. The question was asked by a reporter from ABC affiliate WBND from neighboring South Bend for a hypothetical response to the then-recently enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act which got the Hoosier State into hot water with accusations of discrimination. Kevin’s daughter, Crystal, a fashion faux pas in lime green and electric blue, said that while her religious beliefs would not allow her to deliver Memory Pizza to a same-sex wedding reception, she would serve a slice to a homosexual customer in the shop. After all, fair is fair.
Now pizza is considered a gourmet food in Walkerton as proven by the fact that there are no less than four Pizza parlors in town—one for every 500 people. Most are out on the main drag, State Road 23, where Hot Stone Pizza and Country Roads Bar and Pizza rule supreme.
Memories Pizza shares Roosevelt Blvd. with the Corner Cup Cafe, Subway, McDonalds, several gas stations, and the Walkerton Bible Baptist Church, which is right next door. As for Memories, it proudly displays a sign that reads, “Every day before we open the store, we gather and pray together. If there is something that you would like us to pray for, just write it down and drop it in the box, and we will pray for you also.” Apparently, someone prayed for money.
Memories was force to close for eight days because of threats and hate mail after their declaration of faith, but recently reopened with the promise of $842,000 that was raised on a GoFundMe account started by supporters. While the O’Connors haven’t actually received the cash yet (which after GoFundMe takes its cut. will amount to over $750,000), when they do they say that they will donate it to disabled children, an unnamed women’s help group, fire fighters, police trusts, Christian churches and Barronelle Stutzman, the 70-year-old Washington florist who was fined $1,000 plus $1 in court fees for refusing to supply the flowers at the same-sex wedding of Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed who married in 2013.
Stutzman, who owns Arlene’s Flowers and Gift Shop in Richland, WA, was in violation of Washington state’s non-discrimination act, yet refused to settle in advance of the trial.
“I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family,” Stutzman wrote to State Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a letter. “But my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.”
Making the case even more extraordinary, Ingersoll and Freed knew Stutzman and were loyal customers of Arlene’s Flower Shop for a decade before deciding to get married over two years ago after same-sex marriage became legal in Washington in December 2012.
“It really hurt because it was somebody I knew,” Ingersoll told the Tri-City Herald of Stutzman’s decision. “We laid awake all night Saturday. It was eating at our souls. There was never a question she’d be the one to do our flowers.”
Meanwhile, Stutzman raised $100,000 on GoFundMe to pay her court costs before her account was shut down. Her net profit was $98,999 and a sudden increase in business from the negative publicity from the Christian right.
Just another new profit point in the American dream…Until next week….
