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Florist who refused to make arrangements for same-sex couple reaches agreement

2021-11-19T00:27:54.280Z


The Washington florist who refused to make an arrangement for a same-sex couple withdrew a petition to the Supreme Court and settled with the plaintiffs.


Changes that challenge the US Court 1:48

(CNN) -

A Washington state florist who refused to make a flower arrangement for a couple over religious objections to same-sex marriage will withdraw a petition pending before the Supreme Court after announcing that it has resolved their dispute, according to their lawyers.

The settlement means judges will not meddle, for now, in another bitter dispute over religious freedom that pits a business owner who refuses to serve a same-sex partner with state laws that prohibit discrimination on grounds. sexual orientation.

Barronelle Stutzman "has decided to retire so that his beloved employees can run his business, Arlene's Flowers," lawyers for Alliance Defending Freedom said in a statement.

"It will withdraw a petition pending a new hearing in the United States Supreme Court and will make a payment of only US $ 5,000 to the two men who sued it."

Her attorneys said she is "at peace" with the deal because she can "finally walk away with her conscience intact, and she knows that the legal effort to protect the artistic freedoms of creative professionals" will continue on other challenges.

The dispute began when Stutzman refused to make an arrangement in 2013 for longtime client Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed for their wedding.

The Washington State Supreme Court held that Stutzman violated a state law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, said the law was "neutral" and served the state's interest in eradicating discrimination in public places.

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"We are pleased that Washington Supreme Court rulings remain in effect to ensure that same-sex couples are protected from discrimination and served by business like anyone else," Plaintiffs Ingersoll and Freed said in a release.

"It was painful to be rejected and we are grateful that this long journey for us is finally over."

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The couple said they will donate the $ 5,000 to a local advocacy group that provides support, education and advocacy for LGBTQ + people, their parents and allies.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a Stutzman petition last July over the dissent of Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito, but the florist's attorneys asked the court to reconsider its decision, citing a decision in a separate litigation.

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"Barronelle has been embroiled in litigation for nearly nine years, and with the denial of her petition by this Court, she now faces a crippling financial penalty in the form of a claim for attorneys' fees from the defendants," his lawyers then told the magistrates in statements.

In 2018, the court sided with a Colorado pastry chef who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.

That ruling, however, was carefully tailored to the case at hand and was not a broad, national verdict on whether companies could refuse services to same-sex couples on the basis of religious objections to same-sex marriage.

Supreme Court of the United States

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-11-19

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