Supreme Court Betrays Christians. Again. Gay Rights Trump Religious Freedom.
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a case about a flower shop in Washington that the state’s Supreme Court ruled was discriminating against a gay man by refusing to provide flowers for his wedding due to her religious beliefs.
The case had been moving through Washington state courts for years and at one point was booted back down to lower courts by the Supreme Court after its decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, the case in which the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.
But the Washington Supreme Court still ruled against the florist, Barronelle Stutzman, and she appealed yet again to the U.S. Supreme Court. And Friday, the justices declined to hear the case, meaning that the florist is now subject to significant financial punishment from the state for her alleged discrimination.
“Although the outcome of this case is tragic, the critical work of protecting the First Amendment freedoms of all Americans must continue,” Kristen Waggoner, general counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who represented Stutzman, said in a statement.