Local News

A Richland florist is asking a Benton County Superior Court judge to dismiss a state lawsuit against her for refusing to provide floral arrangements for a gay wedding, saying Attorney General Bob Ferguson lacks the authority to bring the suit, particularly since the couple at the center of the case never complained to the state.

In April, the attorney general sued Arlene’s Flowers and its owner, Barronelle Stutzman, under the state’s consumer-protection law after reading news accounts about her refusal to provide wedding flowers for the upcoming wedding of two gay men.

Days later, the ACLU of Washington filed a civil suit against Stutzman on behalf of the men, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed. The two cases have been consolidated.

Stutzman is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal organization that defends individuals in religion-based suits.

In their motion to dismiss the state’s case against the florist, they argue that for 30 years, the attorney general’s office refused to address discrimination complaints directly, deferring instead to the Washington Human Rights Commission, which is charged with enforcing the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
They argue the state has “undeniably failed” to pursue any of a range of remedies available through the commission’s administrative process.
In a separate motion, they are also asking the judge to dismiss claims in both cases that Stutzman is personally liable as a corporate officer of her company, pointing out that state law does not allow someone to attack a corporate officer personally, except under exceptional circumstances when that person knowingly engaged in fraud, misrepresentation or theft.

More than 60 percent of Washington residents oppose a lawsuit the state attorney general filed in April against a Richland florist after she refused to provide a floral arrangement for the wedding of a long-time gay customer, citing her religious faith, according to a new poll.

The poll by Elway Research was commissioned by the Family Policy Institute of Washington, a religious conservative group which led the fight against same-sex marriage in Washington last fall. It has a margin of error of five percent.

The Elway Poll found that among the 402 people questioned at the end of May, 61 percent opposed – 35 percent of them strongly opposed – the attorney general’s lawsuit. Some 29 percent said they supported it.

The attorney general’s suit against Arlene’s Flowers and its owner Barronelle Stutzman stemmed from a March 1 incident in which Stutzman told a long-time gay customer that she could not provide flowers for his wedding because of her relationship with Jesus Christ.

Stutzman countersued the state last month, saying the attorney general’s attempt to force her to act against her religious conscience violates her state and federal constitutional rights.

“This lawsuit is mean-spirited and the public knows it,” said Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington.

In a statement, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said, “Quite simply, when it comes to enforcing Washington state laws, I pay no attention to polls.”

Survey respondents opposed the lawsuit at higher rates than they supported it, regardless of their age, education, gender or the part of the state in which they lived. Even in relatively liberal Seattle a higher percentage of respondents opposed it than supported it.

People under 50, who tend to favor same-sex marriage at rates higher than older people, opposed the lawsuit at rates above 50 percent.

Not surprisingly, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to support the attorney general’s action. In fact, Democrats were the only group to support the action at a higher rate than they opposed it, although the gap was hardly significant.