Good News: Barronelle Stutzman's Hate Cost her $5,000 and Her Job

I have been blogging about Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Washington, for years now, and I’m hoping this will be the last time.

Back story: Barronelle had a gay coulee, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed, who used her business for a decade, buying flowers for their birthdays, for their anniversary, for holidays, for condolences, and, well, just because. And when marriage equality came to Washington state, Ingersoll and Freed went to Arlene’s Flowers to order for their wedding, and that’s when Barronelle told them that her religion forbid her from selling flowers to gay men for their wedding.

And thus the lawsuits began; Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed sued for discrimination based on sexual orientation, and Barronelle Stutzman whined about the Baby Jeebus telling her not to sell flowers to The Gays … well, sell to them for everything but their wedding. The case went back and forth and round and round and now, it finally looks like it’s over, eight years after it started.

A settlement agreement has been secured between the anti-LGBTQ+ Alliance Defending Freedom and the ACLU which finally ends that lawsuit brought against Stutzman without forcing her to act against her religious beliefs or to pay potentially ruinous attorneys’ fees—a threat she has endured for years.

But all is not golden for Stutzman; she will retire from the business she owns—meaning her bigotry is no longer on display—and she will withdraw a pending petition for rehearing at the Supreme Court –her case was heard once and she lost because … hate—and she must pau Ingersoll and she must pay Ingersoll and Freed $5,000.

Not a lot of money but, just think, if Barronelle Stutzman hadn’t been such a hate-filled bigot, she might have made a few thousand dollars for Ingersoll and Freed for their wedding, and then continued to make more from them over these last eight years, but, instead, she has to cough up the coins.

Let me say it as simply as I can for people like Barronelle Stutzman: if a gay couple asks you to bake a cake, or make a dress, or take some photos, or rent them a venue, for their wedding there are not asking you to take part in their event. They are simply making a business transaction. It only becomes an issue when y’all whip out your Bibles, which, if you read carefully, says nothing about denying services to gay couples who wish to marry.

You read the Bible wrong and spewed hate, and in the long run, you lost.

Good.

Bye.

Barronelle Stutzman Gets Busted!

UPDATE: Judge Rules Against Florist Who Refused Service To Gay Couple

An Open Letter To Barronelle Stutzman

I Didn't Say It ....

Barronelle Stutzman Is Still Whining And Lying

Bobservations