Photos for Headline Surfer® / ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- A 70-year-old pro-life supporter from Deltona was reportedly kicked out of the Planet Fitness in Orange City twice for wearing T-shirts with anti-abortion messages that drew complaints from several other patrons, according to a story published in November by WFTV in Orlando.
Among the slogans on the T-shirts worn by Mike Amoroso and deemed offensive by some at the workout facility: "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart" and "Pray to End Abortion."
Amoroso, who has a collection of pro-life shirts, told WFTV in an interview aired in November that he was given an edict by the gym's management: Take the offensive T-shirts off in favor of something else or leave the facility.
“(They) told me, ‘I am very sorry. We have someone who is not happy with your shirt. Someone is offended by your shirt.’ I said, ‘You know, I wear them all the time.’ (they) said, ‘You’ll have to leave,’ and I left.”
“(They) told me, ‘I am very sorry. We have someone who is not happy with your shirt. Someone is offended by your shirt.’ I said, ‘You know, I wear them all the time.’ (they) said, ‘You’ll have to leave,’ and I left.”
The WFTV report on Amoroso went viral appearing in a news reports across the country.
Mike Amoroso's pro-life T-shirt controversy comes in at No. 63 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2014.
Officials at the Planet Fitness gym did not return calls for comment on the controversy.
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The Headline Surfer® Countdown of the Top 100 Stories of 2014, is sponsored by Edgewater Towing & Myron's Auto Service of Edgewater, FL. 