Christian florist pays $5,000 over refusing to serve gay couple, ending nearly decadelong lawsuit – Washington Examiner

A Christian florist from Washington state has agreed to end a yearlong lawsuit after she refused to provide floral arrangement for a gay couple’s wedding.

Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, has agreed to settle a lawsuit between her and Rob Ingersoll, a gay man for whose wedding Stutzman refused to provide services, Stutzman announced. As part of the settlement
, Stutzman has agreed to pay $5,000 to Ingersoll and his husband, Curt Freed.

“I am a Christian, and I believe the Bible to be the Word of God … I could not take the artistic talents God Himself gave me and use them to contradict and dishonor His Word,” Stutzman said in a statement provided by the legal nonprofit group Alliance Defending Freedom. “So, as gently as I could, I recommended some other floral artists whom I knew would do a great job for Rob. My decision was not intended to hurt him, but to honor my sincere and deepest beliefs.”

Stutzman was represented by the ADF, while Ingersoll and Freed were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union when Ingersoll and Freed filed a lawsuit in 2013 over Stutzman’s refusal to provide them with floral arrangements for their wedding.

Stutzman said over the years she dealt with being hit with “lawsuits filed against” her, along with efforts to get her to change her “religious beliefs.” The florist said that in addition to paying a $5,000 fine to Ingersoll and Freed, she will be passing her business along to someone else so she can retire.

The Supreme Court declined to hear arguments in Stutzman’s appeal case back in July, putting her appeal on hold while the court heard arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, in which it was decided that the city had violated the First Amendment rights of a Catholic foster agency that had refused to serve gay couples.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the ACLU and to the Alliance Defending Freedom for comment but did not receive responses.