Lawyers for Barronelle Stutzman, the proprietor of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Wash., have asked the Supreme Court to reverse a Washington State Supreme Court decision from February. They ruled that Stutzman violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination when she turned away Curt Freed and Robert Ingersoll because they are in a same-sex relationship.
Stutzman and her lawyers argue that she refused the couple service because of her Southern Baptist beliefs opposing same-sex marriage, reports the Tri-City Herald.
They also contend that arranging flowers is a form of artistic expression that should be protected under the First Amendment.
Similarly to baker Jim Phillips in the Colorado Masterpiece Cakeshop case, Stutzman hopes the high court will find that business owners, particularly those in wedding-related businesses, should be allowed to refuse to participate in or take actions seen as condoning behavior or relationships to which they have moral or religious objections.
In both Stutzman’s case and the Colorado case, courts found that Washington State and Colorado’s nondiscrimination laws did not violate the defendants’ First Amendment rights. The courts found that the state had a vested interest in ensuring that minorities, including members of the LGBTQ community, were not discriminated against.
“This case has never been about flowers for us,” Ingersoll said in a statement. “It’s about making sure that other people don’t have to go through what we went through. We hope that the Supreme Court sees what the lower courts in this case have already recognized: that business shouldn’t be able to turn someone away simply because of who they are or who they love.”
But Alliance Defending Freedom, representing Stutzman, issued a statement claiming that if the high court rules against their client, then the government will be able to “punish” others who express religious beliefs opposing homosexuality.
“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 have put at risk everything she owns,” ADF Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner said in a statement. “This includes not only her business, but also her family’s savings, retirement funds, and home. Not only does her case and Jack Phillips’ case involve similar issues, but both Barronelle and Jack face burdensome penalties for simply exercising their right of free expression.”
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that USA Powerlifting discriminated against a transgender woman by barring her from competition, while sending part of the case back to a lower court for further review.
JayCee Cooper, the transgender athlete at the center of the case, was denied entry into two women's competitions in 2018. At the time, she was taking hormone therapy to lower her testosterone levels and applied for a medical exemption, since the drug was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. That exemption request revealed her transgender status to USA Powerlifting, which then refused to let her compete.
John Reid, the gay Republican nominee for Virginia lieutenant governor, has defended the right of his running mate, current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, to oppose same-sex marriage -- even though he personally disagrees with her on the issue.
Speaking on the conservative talk radio program The Wilkow Majority on SiriusXM, Reid said he and Earle-Sears are "willing to put aside our differences" to support policies they believe are best for Virginia. Host Andrew Wilkow then asked Reid to name an issue on which the two disagree.
"She's not for gay marriage. She's 100 percent against it," Reid said. "You know, she's from Jamaica, and her religious background tells her a very different narrative than my Episcopalian white-guy Virginia background. I understand!"
In a heated October 9 debate in Virginia’s governor’s race, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears defended her belief that treating LGBTQ people differently from heterosexual or cisgender individuals does not amount to discrimination.
Earle-Sears, who trails in most public polls, used the debate as a last-ditch attempt to paint former Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger as extreme, out of touch, or untrustworthy. She pressed Spanberger on issues like transgender participation in sports and restroom access. She attacked her for not calling on Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones to withdraw after his comments appeared to endorse political violence.
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