Florist loses appeal after not serving gay couple

Florist loses appeal after not serving gay couple

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman has lost her appeal of a ruling declaring she cannot refuse business that violates her religious beliefs.

The Washington Supreme Court on Feb. 16 upheld a lower court ruling convicting Stutzman of violating the federal and state civil rights of Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed when she refused to design floral arrangements for their homosexual wedding nearly four years ago.

The Southern Baptist grandmother remains liable for the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and damages but will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, her defense team from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) reported.

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), called the ruling a loss for every American who values liberty and civility.

“The Washington Supreme Court’s ruling shortchanges our nation’s most fundamental freedom in favor of ideological conformity,” Moore said. “Barronelle Stutzman followed her genuinely held beliefs without hostility toward any, and yet finds herself the target of a government that wants to steamroll her constitutional rights.

“The Court held that the government can force citizens to use their creative gifts and expressive speech to participate in and endorse acts they believe to be immoral,” he said. “My prayer is that this ruling would be overturned and that the U.S. Supreme Court would recognize the crucial importance of religious liberty.”

ERLC is among several groups that filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the florist.

The case “is about crushing dissent,” ADF’s senior counsel Kristen Waggoner said.

“In a free America, people with differing beliefs must have room to coexist,” she said. “Our nation has a long history of protecting the right to dissent, but simply because Barronelle disagrees with the state about marriage, the government and ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] have put at risk everything she owns.” (BP)