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Restaurant That Refused Gay Wedding Closing After Customers Stopped Coming

The owners of an Iowa gallery-restaurant who were sued for refusing to host a same-sex wedding now say they have to close their establishment.

Richard and Betty Odgaard say they’ll shutter Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa, by the end of August. “We can’t pretend it’s going to get better, Betty, 63, told the Daily Signal. “There wasn’t enough business."

In 2013, the Odgaards, who are Mennonites, told a gay couple from Des Moines that they couldn’t rent the venue for their perfectly legal wedding.

The couple then filed a discrimination complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. The Odgaards denied they were discriminating, but agreed to a $5,000 settlement.

Related: 96-Year-Old Mennonite Pastor Defrocked For Officiating Gay Son's Wedding

They also stopped taking wedding reservations altogether, fearing another lawsuit. Richard says with the money weddings brought in, Görtz Haus couldn't survive.

But it seems that's not what really killed the business: After local newspapers reported on the case, couples began canceling their weddings at the gallery.

And according to the Signal, "Around town, Görtz Haus became known as the business that refuses to serve gays."

So, it wasn't the government or the cost of the fine that shut them down, it was the public’s reaction to their bigotry. (And maybe that they hadn't updated their Facebook page in three years.)

The Mennonite Church is split on the issue of homosexuality, actually, with some congregations ordaining gays and lesbians.

Still, we’re sure the Christian Right will paint the Odgaards as victims.

In fact, the couple is using the incident to start their own ministry—one that promises to promote religious intolerance liberty. (Before they opened Görtz Haus in 2002, it was a Lutheran church for more than a quarter-century.)

Betty and Richard received nonprofit status earlier than expected for their ministry, which according to the Signal "they took as a sign from God."

Because of course they did.

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