A pizza shop in Chattanooga, Tennessee, said it was a choice of "personal conviction" to not provide catering services for same-sex weddings after critics bashed it for the policy.
Wood-fired pizza eatery Pizzeria Cortile posted a statement to its Facebook account on Tuesday confirming its policy after a left-leaning media company first drew attention to it the day before.
"Recently we made the difficult decision not to cater a wedding due to our personal beliefs," Pizzeria Cortile wrote. "This belief comes from a place of personal conviction, one we know is not shared by everyone, and it is one we hold without judgment toward others. This decision was not intended to harm or hurt anyone, and we are sorry for the pain this has caused for people who have been a part of our community.
"We recognize and hear the feedback from everyone who has reached out today. We hope with time we can find an opportunity to extend grace and listen to one another, and to remember that while we may not always agree, we can still treat each other with dignity and love."
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The statement thanked the community and asked to be given the chance to "continue showing love to you when you come through our doors."
Pizzeria Cortile restricted comments under that specific post. However, its Facebook page was inundated with hundreds of negative comments bashing the decision under other unrelated posts.
The previous post from Sunday featuring photos of one of its dishes received over 1,500 comments reacting to the controversy in the past 24 hours.
"There aren't two reasonable sides here. Nobody asked you to be gay. Or promote any kind of message. They asked for pizza. And bigots refused. That's the whole story. It isn't any deeper. It is black and white discrimination," one Facebook comment with over 200 likes read.
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"Are you going to start asking your patrons their sexual orientation upon entering the vicinity?" another top post mocked. "Being bisexual, am I welcome?… Might as well go ahead and put it on your website that you don't cater/serve to the gays either."
Another top comment suggested someone alert the IRS to audit the business.
Online commentators also slammed the owners as "bigots" and wished their business would suffer from the news.
One commenter defended the business, citing Supreme Court precedent.
"The Supreme Court has ruled on this, and it is in fact not discrimination. You are free to make your own choices but so are they. Who are you to force someone else to share your beliefs but then expect them not to do the same," the comment read.
The flood of negative attention seemed to be driven by posts on Reddit and readers of the progressive news website The Chattanooga Holler, which first drew attention to the company's policy on Monday.
"INBOX: Evidently, Pizzeria Cortile will not cater to same sex weddings. Just letting folks not waste their time (or money)," the Chattanooga Holler posted to its social media accounts, along with a screenshot response from the pizzeria.
"All I’m hearing is 'We’re allowed to be homophobic bc God,'" one person mocked under the Holler's Facebook post.
"Calling bigotry a ‘personal conviction’ is a heck of a twist," another person added.
A social media post entitled, "Big L for Pizzeria Cortile," on Chattanooga Reddit on Monday also drew over 900 comments, with the majority appearing to bash the business.
Pizzeria Cortile did not respond to a request for comment.
