Florist Sued for Refusing Service to Gay Couple Pens Defiant Letter Rejecting Gov’t Settlement Offer

[Asclepias]

I was telling the truth. Matter of fact I can tell you are in the closet even though you havent announced it.

Ah yes, to the leftist, no insult is as bad as calling someone a queer. :yawn:

What makes you think thats an insult? Its just an observation. No one cares if you are gay. Its not a big deal.

 

[g5000]

The owner of a business has every right to put up a sign that says "whites only." I won't buy from that business

Would you buy from a STRAIGHTS ONLY business?

 

[Asclepias]

I was telling the truth. Matter of fact I can tell you are in the closet even though you havent announced it.

Ah yes, to the leftist, no insult is as bad as calling someone a queer. :yawn:

You have to shake your head when a homo tries to insult you by calling you a homo. They do it all the time

Only an in the closet homo thinks calling you a homo is an insult.

 

[mikegriffith1]

You see, it's like this: In our society we have various groups of people with different values and beliefs. If we're going to have a functioning, successful society, people with one set of values and beliefs should not seek to persecute people who have different values and beliefs.

If gays continue with their intolerance and bigotry toward Christian businesses, then Christian florists, bakers, photographers, etc., should start agreeing to service gay weddings and then once there speak out against gay marriage and homosexuality. Then gays would have to decide if they wanted to sue those Christian vendors for exercising their right of freedom of speech.

 

[BlindBoo]

The owner of a business has every right to put up a sign that says "whites only." I won't buy from that business

Would you buy from a STRAIGHTS ONLY business?

If I was look for some Anti-Gay-Vibe lotion sure...........

 

[Uncensored2008]

Oh, I appreciate your admission that you are okay with returning to the dark days of WHITE ONLY signs, and for being okay with STRAIGHTS ONLY signs on businesses.

I support civil rights - you do not.

Whom one person trades with is none of my business. I am not a slave owner who has the authority to dictate to others whom they may trade with. Now you clearly view others as your property, bound to obey you as master.

I will not trade with a business that has a whites only policy - but that business does not belong to me - nor does the owner. My only legitimate method of showing displeasure is not to trade.

You don't grasp this because you are a leftist and hostile to civil liberty.

It's just too bad that the other bigots on this forum are not as brave to admit it. SassyIrishLass and koshergrl have fought tooth and nail to deny that STRAIGHTS ONLY florists and bakeries are the same bullshit, different decade.

They put me on Ignore rather than find the guts to admit it. It scares them to admit they are just like the racists of the past.

Supporting civil rights is not bigotry. Demagoguery is not legitimate discussion. But you are a leftist - one cannot expect you to be rational.

 

[bodecea]

The bigots want STRAIGHTS ONLY bakeries and florists and lunch counters.

They will need a sign like this one:

Comrade Jake, how would these bakeries and florists even know a customer was gay - unless the customer announces it?

Behavior <> skin color - even if your filthy party tries to make it so,

I can tell people are gay even though they dont announce it. You must be a fucking idiot.

Gaydar.

 

[BlindBoo]

If we're going to have a functioning, successful society, people with one set of values and beliefs and values should not seek to persecute people who have different values and beliefs.

I agree, those businesses should stop persecuting them gays.

 

[Asclepias]

You see, it's like this: In our society we have various groups of people with different values and beliefs. If we're going to have a functioning, successful society, people with one set of values and beliefs should not seek to persecute people who have different values and beliefs.

If gays continue with their intolerance and bigotry toward Christian businesses, then Christian florists, bakers, photographers, etc., should start agreeing to service gay weddings and then once there speak out against gay marriage and homosexuality. Then gays would have to decide if they wanted to sue those Christian vendors for exercising their right of freedom of speech.

They would never do that. They want to keep their hate a secret. The Gay Rights movement couldnt plan a better public display than that.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Would you buy from a STRAIGHTS ONLY business?

I really don't care who others have sex with. I do oppose the unending assault on civil liberty by the homosexual lobby and the party. So it depends on the circumstance.

I would not buy from a racist business under any circumstance - but homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, not a race.

 

[bodecea]

A Christian florist who was sued and found guilty of discrimination after refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding isn’t planning on backing down, recently issuing a defiant letter rejecting a settlement agreement and revealing plans to appeal her case.

After Barronelle Stutzman, 70, declined a $2,001 settlement offer in a letter to the state’s attorney general on Friday, her attorney, Kristen Waggoner, senior counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal firm, told TheBlaze on Monday that a judge’s decision that Stutzman violated anti-discrimination law will be challenged in the state court system.

As previously reported, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom decided last week that Barronelle Stutzman violated Washington’s Law Against Discrimination and Consumer Protection Act when she refused service to Robert Ingersoll and his partner, Curt Freed.

The state subsequently offered a settlement in which Waggoner would only need to pay a $2,000 fine and $1 in legal fees and commit to offering flowers for gay and straight weddings, alike, if she continues providing matrimony services, the Daily Mail reported.



But the florist declined the offer, with Waggoner telling TheBlaze that nothing new or protective was afforded to her client.

“Attorney General [Bob Ferguson] has relentlessly pursued her personal and professional ruin because she will not celebrate same-sex marriage. His settlement proposal offered nothing new,” she said. “The attorney general continues to pursue her business and personal assets unless she agrees to stop designing wedding arrangements and providing wedding support services for all weddings.”

Waggoner said that the government continues to send a message that artists like Stutzman will be punished if they do not embrace gay relationships.

“The government’s message is the same: as an artist, you must use your heart, mind, and hands to promote same-sex marriage or you will lose everything,” Waggoner said.

The attorney’s comments come after Stutzman penned a response letter to Ferguson, rejecting his offer and defending her religious beliefs. In it, she wrote that it has been “exhausting” to be at the center of the controversy over the past two years and said that she never imagined that her “God-given talents and abilities” would become illegal if she refused to use them to serve same-sex weddings.

“Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs,” she wrote.

Stutzman specifically took aim at Ferguson’s settlement offer, claiming that it shows that he truly doesn’t understand her intention to defend her religious liberty.

“Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money,” she wrote. “I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.”

Stutzman continued, “Washington’s constitution guarantees us ‘freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.’ I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.”

Read the letter in its entirety below:

Dear Mr. Ferguson,

Thank you for reaching out and making an offer to settle your case against me.

As you may imagine, it has been mentally and emotionally exhausting to be at the center of this controversy for nearly two years. I never imagined that using my God-given talents and abilities, and doing what I love to do for over three decades, would become illegal. Our state would be a better place if we respected each other’s differences, and our leaders protected the freedom to have those differences. Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.

Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important. Washington’s constitution guarantees us “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.” I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.

I pray that you reconsider your position. I kindly served Rob for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so. I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case. You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating, and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business, and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process. Thanks again for writing and I hope you will consider my offer.

Sincerely,

Barronelle Stutzman

Waggoner said that the letter was meant to affirm that Stutzman will not be giving up by surrendering her freedom for money.

“In what world is $2,001 a good deal for surrendering your freedom?” Waggoner said.

Florist Sued for Refusing Service to Gay Couple Pens Defiant Letter Rejecting Gov t Settlement Offer and Her Attorney Reveals What s Next TheBlaze.com

I have a wonderful solution.....arrange to have all businesses that SHE wants to buy from refuse to serve her due to her Christianity.....grocery store? Sorry. Bank? Nope. Clothing Store? Sorry, we don't serve your kind. Etc. Let's see how long that lasts.

Go ahead and try and arrange that....so stupid.

EXACTLY! It's stupid. Glad you see it for what it is.

I meant you're stupid, cupcake

So...let's see if I can get a response from you instead of you running away again......If I am a florist and I get an order from you to do a floral arrangement for your wedding......and the address is a Catholic Church....is it legal for me to announce that I will not take your order because you are Catholic? How would you respond?

 

[Asclepias]

Would you buy from a STRAIGHTS ONLY business?

I really don't care who others have sex with. I do oppose the unending assault on civil liberty by the homosexual lobby and the party. So it depends on the circumstance.

I would not buy from a racist business under any circumstance - but homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, not a race.

When are you going make your choice to be gay? All the signs are there.

 

[bodecea]

The bigots want STRAIGHTS ONLY bakeries and florists and lunch counters.

They will need a sign like this one:

Comrade Jake, how would these bakeries and florists even know a customer was gay - unless the customer announces it?

Behavior <> skin color - even if your filthy party tries to make it so,

If it's homo men look for a lisp, limp wrist, sashaying and the use of the word fabulous. Women: look for lots of flannel, hairy lips and backs and men's haircuts

So you admit that you haven't a clue as to all the gays around you.

Actually there are very few around me as far as my personal life, children attend a private school, we are Catholic, I work from home and my husband is responsible for hiring associates. The only time I'm subjected to the perversion is out in public and my gaydar is in perfect working order

ORLY????

 

[g5000]

So...let's see if I can get a response from you instead of you running away again......If I am a florist and I get an order from you to do a floral arrangement for your wedding......and the address is a Catholic Church....is it legal for me to announce that I will not take your order because you are Catholic? How would you respond?

This is the part where UC asks how you know they are Catholic...

 

[bodecea]

The bigots want STRAIGHTS ONLY bakeries and florists and lunch counters.

They will need a sign like this one:

Comrade Jake, how would these bakeries and florists even know a customer was gay - unless the customer announces it?

Behavior <> skin color - even if your filthy party tries to make it so,

If it's homo men look for a lisp, limp wrist, sashaying and the use of the word fabulous. Women: look for lots of flannel, hairy lips and backs and men's haircuts

And Jews have big noses...and black people love watermelon.....

And the Irish are short, stupid, drunk and never bathe. The women have a zillion kids with a zillion men.

Yay!!!!! I've pissed the lezbo off. SUCCESS!!!!!!

Hmmmm, your little smilie response clearly shows who the pissed off one is.

 

[g5000]

Would you buy from a STRAIGHTS ONLY business?

I really don't care who others have sex with. I do oppose the unending assault on civil liberty by the homosexual lobby and the party. So it depends on the circumstance.

I would not buy from a racist business under any circumstance - but homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, not a race.

Evasion.

Hey, tell us about the day you chose not to be gay. Were you, like, staring at another guy's ass and getting a hardon and then said, "Nah. I think I will be straight instead"? Was it like that?

Tell us.

 

[bodecea]

So...let's see if I can get a response from you instead of you running away again......If I am a florist and I get an order from you to do a floral arrangement for your wedding......and the address is a Catholic Church....is it legal for me to announce that I will not take your order because you are Catholic? How would you respond?

This is the part where UC asks how you know they are Catholic...

I'm sure she's gonna run away from this one.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

A Christian florist who was sued and found guilty of discrimination after refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding isn’t planning on backing down, recently issuing a defiant letter rejecting a settlement agreement and revealing plans to appeal her case.

After Barronelle Stutzman, 70, declined a $2,001 settlement offer in a letter to the state’s attorney general on Friday, her attorney, Kristen Waggoner, senior counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal firm, told TheBlaze on Monday that a judge’s decision that Stutzman violated anti-discrimination law will be challenged in the state court system.

As previously reported, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom decided last week that Barronelle Stutzman violated Washington’s Law Against Discrimination and Consumer Protection Act when she refused service to Robert Ingersoll and his partner, Curt Freed.

The state subsequently offered a settlement in which Waggoner would only need to pay a $2,000 fine and $1 in legal fees and commit to offering flowers for gay and straight weddings, alike, if she continues providing matrimony services, the Daily Mail reported.



But the florist declined the offer, with Waggoner telling TheBlaze that nothing new or protective was afforded to her client.

“Attorney General [Bob Ferguson] has relentlessly pursued her personal and professional ruin because she will not celebrate same-sex marriage. His settlement proposal offered nothing new,” she said. “The attorney general continues to pursue her business and personal assets unless she agrees to stop designing wedding arrangements and providing wedding support services for all weddings.”

Waggoner said that the government continues to send a message that artists like Stutzman will be punished if they do not embrace gay relationships.

“The government’s message is the same: as an artist, you must use your heart, mind, and hands to promote same-sex marriage or you will lose everything,” Waggoner said.

The attorney’s comments come after Stutzman penned a response letter to Ferguson, rejecting his offer and defending her religious beliefs. In it, she wrote that it has been “exhausting” to be at the center of the controversy over the past two years and said that she never imagined that her “God-given talents and abilities” would become illegal if she refused to use them to serve same-sex weddings.

“Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs,” she wrote.

Stutzman specifically took aim at Ferguson’s settlement offer, claiming that it shows that he truly doesn’t understand her intention to defend her religious liberty.

“Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money,” she wrote. “I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.”

Stutzman continued, “Washington’s constitution guarantees us ‘freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.’ I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.”

Read the letter in its entirety below:

Dear Mr. Ferguson,

Thank you for reaching out and making an offer to settle your case against me.

As you may imagine, it has been mentally and emotionally exhausting to be at the center of this controversy for nearly two years. I never imagined that using my God-given talents and abilities, and doing what I love to do for over three decades, would become illegal. Our state would be a better place if we respected each other’s differences, and our leaders protected the freedom to have those differences. Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.

Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important. Washington’s constitution guarantees us “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.” I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.

I pray that you reconsider your position. I kindly served Rob for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so. I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case. You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating, and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business, and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process. Thanks again for writing and I hope you will consider my offer.

Sincerely,

Barronelle Stutzman

Waggoner said that the letter was meant to affirm that Stutzman will not be giving up by surrendering her freedom for money.

“In what world is $2,001 a good deal for surrendering your freedom?” Waggoner said.

Florist Sued for Refusing Service to Gay Couple Pens Defiant Letter Rejecting Gov t Settlement Offer and Her Attorney Reveals What s Next TheBlaze.com

I have a wonderful solution.....arrange to have all businesses that SHE wants to buy from refuse to serve her due to her Christianity.....grocery store? Sorry. Bank? Nope. Clothing Store? Sorry, we don't serve your kind. Etc. Let's see how long that lasts.

Go ahead and try and arrange that....so stupid.

EXACTLY! It's stupid. Glad you see it for what it is.

I meant you're stupid, cupcake

So...let's see if I can get a response from you instead of you running away again......If I am a florist and I get an order from you to do a floral arrangement for your wedding......and the address is a Catholic Church....is it legal for me to announce that I will not take your order because you are Catholic? How would you respond?

I don't run away, I have children that are far more important than your whiny demands. With that said, I've already addressed this somewhere, I could care less if you were a florist that didn't want to deliver to a Catholic church, I'd simply find a florist that would instead of whining, gnashing my teeth and filing stupid lawsuits

 

[Asclepias]

Would you buy from a STRAIGHTS ONLY business?

I really don't care who others have sex with. I do oppose the unending assault on civil liberty by the homosexual lobby and the party. So it depends on the circumstance.

I would not buy from a racist business under any circumstance - but homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, not a race.

Evasion.

Hey, tell us about the day you chose not to be gay.

He is still up in the air about that.

 

[g5000]

I am serious about wanting this "choose to be gay" thing explained. For me, there was no choice about preferring women. It just happened that way. I couldn't be gay if I tried. The same way I didn't decide whether or not I like broccoli. I can't make myself want to smoke a pole any more than I can make myself want to chow down on ten pounds of broccoli.

Therefore, people who think gays choose to be gay must have had a moment in their lives where they could have gone either way, and I want to hear about it so I can understand. This is something completely unfamiliar to me.