KENNEWICK — Forty-three members of Congress and 17 other states are supporting a Richland flower shop owner’s fight against a gay couple and the Washington attorney general.
Barronelle Stutzman cited religious freedom last month when she asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the discrimination cases against her.
Her store, Arlene’s Flowers, was sued in 2013 after Stutzman refused to design arrangements for the same-sex wedding of longtime customer Robert Ingersoll and his now-husband Curt Freed.
The Washington state Supreme Court twice agreed with a Benton County Superior Court judge’s finding that Stutzman violated the state’s anti-discrimination law and the Consumer Protection Act by declining to provide services based on sexual orientation.
The nonprofit legal organization representing Stutzman recently announced that numerous amicus briefs have been filed with the country’s highest court on Stutzman’s behalf.
