A neighborhood pizzeria in Red Bank, Tennessee, is attracting media attention and controversy as it navigates a difficult religious and political issue with its policy on catering gay weddings.
Apparently in response to a direct-message query on Instagram, Pizzeria Cortile, owned by Justin and Amanda Jo Bennett, stated that it does not provide catering services for same-sex weddings. When a screenshot of that message was posted recently on Reddit and shared on other social media platforms, it sparked a social backlash as well as coverage from publications like the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Christianity Daily and the New York Post and regional TV news affiliates such as News Channel 9 and Local 3 News.
Despite a hotly divided response on social media, Local 3 News, via Facebook, stated on December 18 that “just two days since the controversy began at Pizzeria Cortile, they are back open and packed with business. Throughout the day, 5-star reviews steadily came into the restaurant’s Facebook page.”
The pizzeria’s owners are reportedly declining to be interviewed by the press. A sign to that effect was posted on a door at the restaurant, Local 3 News reported.
Pizzeria Cortile’s website appeared to be down at the time this article was posted. The restaurant’s Facebook page can be found here, and its Instagram page is here.
Since the controversy erupted, the pizzeria clarified its position with a sensitively worded post on Facebook and Instagram four days ago. The post notes that the pizzeria has “been privileged to welcome and serve people from all walks of life, as customers and staff members, with open arms and genuine care. We’ve worked hard to create an environment where everyone feels loved and respected, and we have supported our employees and patrons, often going above and beyond to ensure their well-being.”
The post goes on to state, “Recently, we made the difficult decision not to cater a wedding due to our personal beliefs. 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,” the post continues. “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.”
It’s a delicate and precarious tightrope act for a pizzeria whose mission, according to that post, “has always been about bringing people together through food, love and a sense of community.”
Pizzeria Cortile’s Facebook post has garnered more than 4,100 reactions, ranging from thumbs up and hearts to ha-has, and 276 shares. The pizzeria has limited comments on the post, with only two visible on Facebook. One simply reads, “Yikes.” The other reads, “Your personal beliefs are your personal beliefs! I will still support you!”
The same post on Instagram has received 6,679 likes on Instagram. It appears that comments on that post have also been disabled.
However, both Facebook and Instagram users took advantage of other recent Pizzeria Cortile posts, unrelated to catering gay weddings, to express support for or condemn the restaurant’s policy.
Pizzeria Cortile’s position has apparently cost the owners at least one business partner. The Book & Cover, a Chattanooga bookstore that has previously hosted Pizzeria Cortile’s food truck, stated in its own Facebook post that it “will be ending our partnership” with the pizzeria.
“In accordance with their beliefs, Pizzeria Cortile has recently confirmed that they implement a practice of not catering weddings for same sex couples,” the Book & Cover post states. “This stance is not in keeping with our values as individuals or as a business. It is vitally important to us that it is clear we treasure and respect the queer members of our community and celebrate the rights and love that they carry.”
Christianity Daily reported that Elizabeth Haley, executive director of The Seed Theatre—a Chattanooga nonprofit supporting the LGBTQ+ community—has called for a boycott of Pizzeria Cortile in a Facebook post. PMQ could not locate that post on The Seed Theatre’s Facebook page.
According to Christianity Daily, Haley’s post urged followers to share screenshots of their donations to pro-LGBTQ+ organizations on social media “and tag Pizzeria Cortile so they know that your money is going directly to support queer folks instead of their bigotry.”
In an interview with Local 3 News, Haley said she was “really shocked that [Pizzeria Cortile] just put it out there like that,” adding that “such a simple comment…has rocked Chattanooga.” She said Pizzeria Cortile “made it very clear who [they] want to do business with and who [they] don’t.”
Pizzeria Cortile isn’t the first pizza restaurant to spark controversy for declining to cater gay weddings. In 2015, Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, made national news for a similar policy, attributed to the owners’ religious beliefs. When news about its stance went viral, Memories Pizza incurred severe backlash and had to temporarily close. However, when it reopened days later, its dining room was reportedly packed. Additionally, a GoFundMe campaign raised more than $840,000 for the restaurant’s owners.
In an October 2016 interview with the South Bend Tribune, Memories Pizza owner Kevin O’Connor fretted over the country’s highly charged political climate. “Out of anger, there seems to be no getting along,” he said at the time. “If [my] opinion isn’t what somebody else’s is, then I’m a dirtbag. Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean I have to hate you.”
Memories Pizza closed permanently in 2018.
It remains to be seen whether Pizzeria Cortile will suffer any dire long-term consequences for its position. For now, however, it seems likely the controversy won’t soon go away.
Via his Facebook page, comedian/writer Jeff Greenspan, the former chief creative officer of BuzzFeed, called on Chattanooga’s LGBTQ+ community to stage a same-sex “kiss-in” at Pizzeria Cortile on Sunday, December 22. “Bring your same-sex partner, your best bro you’d smooch for the meme, your lesbian BFF, or anyone you’re down to kiss for justice and show them what a slice of love looks like,” the post reads. “And if you order a pie, ask them to hold the homophobia.”
