Florist sued again for refusing to provide flowers for gay wedding

The ACLU has filed a discrimination lawsuit against a florist in Washington State who says she would not sell flowers for a gay couple's wedding because of her religious beliefs. The state is already prosecuting her under a consumer protection law. 

By Allison Terry, Correspondent / April 19, 2013

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington filed a lawsuit Thursday, claiming that Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers and Gifts in Richland, Wash., discriminated against Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed, who are longtime patrons of the shop. Last week, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Ms. Stutzman, the first discrimination case based on sexual orientation brought by the Attorney General's Office, reports the Seattle Times……. Washington law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, which applies to businesses selling goods and providing services, the ACLU statement said.  “Under the Consumer Protection Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against customers on the basis of sexual orientation,” Mr. Ferguson said in a statement on April 9. “If a business provides a product or service to opposite-sex couples for their weddings, then it must provide same-sex couples the same product or service.”  Ferguson sent a letter to Stutzman in March asking her to reconsider her decision, but her attorney said she would challenge the state action and ACLU lawsuit, Reuters reported….To Read More….

My Take - The question that is failed to be asked in this article is this.  Why did they pick this florist?  Since Richland, Washington has a population bordering on fifty thousand we have to believe they have more than one florist.  So why this florist?  I would be willing to bet that if this was looked into closely we would find that they were chosen deliberately.  But even if this whole thing is coincidental, this is fundamentally troubling since this overturns the foundational beliefs on which this nation was created, and these issues are being pushed with the power of the government.  These issues are going to become far more troubling in the future.