Indiana Pizza Parlor Receives Threats for Refusing Gay Wedding

The owners of a pizza parlor in Walkerton, Indiana, are now $842,387 richer after receiving such an amount of donation from sympathizers who lauded their decision to close their shop following a backlash for their anti-gay comments.

A GoFundMe online fundraising campaign for Memories Pizza aiming "to relieve the financial loss endured by the proprietors' stand for faith" was launched after the shop closed down.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the original Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or SB 101, one of whose provisions stated that "a governmental entity may not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability."

Crystal O'Connor, whose family owns Memories Pizza, told ABC 57 News last April 1 that "if a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no."

"We are a Christian establishment," she said.

O'Connor said they do not discriminate but are only asserting their religious beliefs. "We're not discriminating against anyone. That's just our belief, and anyone has the right to believe in anything," said O'Connor.

She said her family supported Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. "We definitely agree with the bill," she said.

Her father, Kevin, supported her, saying "that lifestyle is something they (same-sex couples) choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?"

Because of the family's comments, the pizza shop drew criticisms on Yelp and received threatening messages, prompting the owners to close the establishment.

"I don't know if we will re-open, or if we can, if it's safe to re-open," Crystal O'Connor said on TheBlaze TV's "Dana" program. "We're in hiding basically, staying in the house."

The GoFundMe campaign was launched by Lawrence Jones, a television opinion contributor on the "Dana" program.

"Religious liberty is under assault in Indiana and that's never been clearer than with the O'Connor family," the campaign said.