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Washington Florist Illegally Refused To Provide Flowers For Same-Sex Wedding, Judge Rules

Washington Florist Illegally Refused To Provide Flowers For Same-Sex Wedding, Judge Rules
A judge in Washington state ruled Wednesday that a florist’s refusal to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding violated the state anti-discrimination law.

Benton County Superior Court Judge Alexander C. Ekstrom found that the florist violated consumer protections when she wouldn’t sell flowers for the same-sex wedding of a longtime customer because of her religious beliefs. The couple was protected by the Washington Law Against Discrimination, which prohibits bias based on sexual orientation, the court ruled.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which represented the couple, praised the decision.

“The law is clear: If you choose to provide a service to couples of the opposite sex, you must provide the same service to same-sex couples,” Ferguson said in a statement, TV station KEPR reported. “Washingtonians have enacted laws recognizing equality for same-sex couples, and I will continue to vigorously uphold these laws. I appreciate the judge’s decision and am very proud of my team’s hard work to stop this unlawful discrimination.”

Robert Ingersoll and his partner, Curt Freed, had bought flowers from the shop for nearly a decade, the Tri-City Herald reported in 2013. So the couple was surprised when owner Barronelle Stutzman told them she wouldn’t provide wedding flowers because of her “relationship with Jesus Christ.” Stutzman told KEPR at the time that it was the only wedding she had turned down in nearly 40 years.

The couple was married in 2013.

Washington’s anti-discrimination law allows for penalties of up to $2,000 per violation, as well as legal fees. The state will likely seek those against Stutzman individually as well as her business, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office told The Associated Press.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/18/florist-gay-wedding-discrimination_n_6709808.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

NEWS

Lee Daniels Discusses Homophobic Audience Reaction To Gay Kissing On 'Empire': WATCH

Lee Daniels Discusses Homophobic Audience Reaction To Gay Kissing On 'Empire': WATCH

Leedaniels

Writer, director and producer Lee Daniels recently talked about watching focus groups react to same-sex kissing on his new show, Empire. Daniels referred to the dial technology used by focus groups to give instant feedback as to whether they love or hate something. When viewers love something they turn their dials up to a ten, whereas when they hate it they turn to zero. So how did the majority of those in the focus group first react to a gay kiss on Empire?

They’re at a ten until the two men kiss. So at the end the questioner asks, ‘why is it a zero when two men kiss?’ And you knew that the hundred people in the room — a hundred people in the room, most of them, 90 percent, 95 percent of them were heterosexual — didn’t want to admit to their homophobia so they just sort of look at the floor—it’s like not admitting to be a racist…’But can you tell me why you’re at a zero? Why do you go from a ten to a zero?’ Because it’s unaccepted. I think that it’s slowly becoming a thing because we are making it a thing. It is the civil rights of our time right now and I think we have to not back down.

Watch the interview, AFTER THE JUMP…

And you can watch Empire Wednesdays at 9 PM ET/PT on Fox.


Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/lee-daniels-discusses-homophobic-audience-reaction-to-gay-kissing-on-empire-watch.html

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