Iowa Restaurant Goes Bankrupt After Turning Away Gays

Some might say an Iowa restaurant is getting its just desserts after turning away gay customers earlier this year. Occupy Democrats reports that The Görtz Haus in Des Moines is going bankrupt after suffering a tremendous decrease in business. The loss of customers appears to be a direct result of the business owners refusing service to a gay couple. Instead of making extra revenue off same-sex couples, the restaurant will be shutting its doors indefinitely in August.

The Huffington Post reports that the restaurant’s Christian owners, Betty and Richard Odgaard, had previously cited religious reasons for refusing to host a gay wedding. Betty had even tried to claim that they were not at all discriminating against the gay couple. She told reporters that her faith simply wouldn’t let her host their wedding.

“I would never discriminate in any area that’s not who I am. I just couldn’t celebrate their wedding because of my faith.”

At the beginning of the year, the Iowa restaurant stopped hosting weddings altogether in hopes of curbing any backlash that’d result from their refusal to host for a gay couple. The business evidently relied on weddings for most of its profit, because it went from hosting 15 to 25 weddings per year to none, which has resulted in the closure of the business.

On social media, the reactions to this business closure are mixed. While some are claiming that this is a sign of oppression of Christians and conservatives in America, others have declared that the free market has decided on whether or not the Iowa restaurant deserves enough business to stay open. After all, the consumers are ultimately who decide what businesses operate and which ones fail.

The Görtz Haus is not the only business to suffer as a result of homosexual discrimination. Sweet Cakes By Melissa is a bakery that notoriously came under fire when its owners refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian wedding. The owners Aaron and Melissa Klein became the poster children for bigotry against homosexual consumers among small business owners, and they flaunted it proudly. That was until they lost their business and were held in contempt of consumer protection laws of their state. Over the course of their case they have received a lot of support, and even monetary donations, but not enough to keep their business afloat.

Do you think business owners should have the right to discriminate against people based on sexual preference?

Photo: Becket Fund via Youtube