A Washington state florist has agreed to pay $5,000 to end a yearslong legal battle centered on her refusal to provide floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding ceremony.
We Hear You: Supreme Court Abandons Christian Florist
Commentary By
Ken McIntyre, a 30-year veteran of national and local newspapers, serves as senior editor at The Daily Signal and The Heritage Foundation s Marilyn and Fred Guardabassi Fellow in Media and Public Policy Studies. Send an email to Ken.
Editor’s note: The Daily Signal’s audience appears flabbergasted that the Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a florist in Washington state who declined to do floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding. Here’s a sampling from the mailbag at [email protected] Ken McIntyre
Dear Daily Signal: In his story “Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Appeal of Christian Florist in Same-Sex Wedding Case,” Fred Lucas reports that an ACLU lawyer said of florist Barronelle Stutzman’s case, “No one should walk into a store and have to wonder whether they will be turned away because of who they are.”
Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene s Flowers in Richland, Washington, speaks as supporters rally around her in November 2016. | (Photo: ADF/Screengrab)
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court vacated a decision from Washington state s highest court against a Christian florist who refused for religious reasons to provide services for a gay wedding.
In 2013, a same-sex couple filed a lawsuit against Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene s Flowers for refusing to provide services for their gay wedding due to her sincerely held Christian beliefs.
In their order vacating the decision, the Supreme Court cited their decision
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in which the Justices ruled 7-2 that baker Jack Phillips was mistreated by the commission when they decided to punish him for refusing to design a cake for a same-sex wedding in 2012.