Washington State Florist Fined $1,000 For Refusing Service To Gays

Baronelle Stutzman

Remember the florist in Washington state who refused to sell a gay couple flowers for their wedding?

Remember how the haters screamed that the gays were going to ruin the florist by taking her home and livelihood away?

Yeah. It ended up a whopping $1,001 fine.

From the AP:

Benton County Superior Judge Alexander Ekstrom's ruling gives Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers and Gifts in Richland, Washington, 60 days to pay the state for her refusal to serve Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed when they sought to buy wedding flowers in 2013.

Stutzman, who had sold flowers to Robert Ingersoll for years, knew he was gay and said when he sought to buy wedding flowers that the marriage went against her beliefs as a Southern Baptist. After they were refused flowers, Ingersoll and Freed went ahead with a smaller wedding than they had planned. They got married in their home with 11 guests and flowers from another florist.

In a February ruling, Ekstrom found that Stutzman's refusal to provide flowers because of sexual orientation violated Washington's anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws.

"My primary goal has always been to end illegal discrimination," Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. "I'm pleased that today's ruling clearly prohibits discrimination against same-sex couples."