Silly religious businesses opening legal issues due to faith

[sooperphreek]

http://www.theprovince.com/business/Was ... story.html

these dummies should have just charged triple for the flowers and arrangements and made the customers go to someone else rather than opening the legal can of worms that gays seem to love pursuing against religious.

[Nom_de_Plume]

http://www.theprovince.com/business/Washington+florist+sued+after+refusing+provide+flowers+same/8223722/story.html

these dummies should have just charged triple for the flowers and arrangements and made the customers go to someone else rather than opening the legal can of worms that gays seem to love pursuing against religious.

well the thing I don't get is this customer had been frequenting this shop for years the owner musta known he was gay then or they wouldn't have had a "hug goodbye" kinda relationship.
But whatever, I could see going all "sue the place" if it was the only florist in town as that would make things too expensive to order flowers from a neighbouring place. but......

[grammafreddy]

Sure seems queer to me - the florist had been selling this guy flowers for years and had no problem doing that, even though he/she had to have known he was gay. All of a sudden the florist gets all holy and can't sell them the flowers for their wedding? Does that mean its okay to be gay but just don't get married?

[sooperphreek]

ya. and its something i can agree with. why are the gays interested in an archaic religious institution anyways? just get a civil union and you have all the benefits of a religious marriage anyways.

[fluffy]

So, if a few ultra-right wingers who were not her former customers begin to shop there, and everyone of a more tolerant mindset stops shopping there, what do you figure the net effect on her business will be? She's going to wish she had a few more bucks in the till when it comes time to pay her fine.

[grammafreddy]

LOL - she soliciting donations on her FB page.

[sooperphreek]

i dont see why she has to explain herself at all. a bank can tell me that i cant have a loan - which means they dont want my business. does that mean i should sue them?

[grammafreddy]

That's different, sooper.

However, if the bank person said they wouldn't give you a loan to buy a house for you and your gay wife/husband/partner/spouse because 'I can't lend you any money for that because of my relationship with Jesus Christ,', that would be close.

[sooperphreek]

which is why she was stupid and should have tripled the price and not brought religion/homophobia into the equation. if it was me i would have just made the purchase very unappealing to that particular customer which is my right as a store owner.

[GordonH]

which is why she was stupid and should have tripled the price and not brought religion/homophobia into the equation. if it was me i would have just made the purchase very unappealing to that particular customer which is my right as a store owner.

I would agree with you on this statement. Better to have reputation of being overpriced than this other.

[sooperphreek]

the point is that she could have made her religious beliefs through a mechanism that could not be exploited legally by a minority. you cant sue a business and reverse slander someone for charging you too much. and if that minority tells their friends and they stay away oh well. it is after all just a minority and wont affect the bottom line.

[fluffy]

the point is that she could have made her religious beliefs through a mechanism that could not be exploited legally by a minority. you cant sue a business and reverse slander someone for charging you too much. and if that minority tells their friends and they stay away oh well. it is after all just a minority and wont affect the bottom line.

The consumer protection laws under which the lawsuit has been filed basically say it's illegal to refuse someone service on the basis of sexual orientation, which is what this woman did and openly admits it. She's going to court saying that her religious beliefs are the reason behind this decision. Although I do not support her actions she scores some points for being true to her convictions. Personally I think her bottom line is at risk here because from my experience with these matters more people will withhold their business than will step forward to support her position by doing business with here. I think she will lose in court because the law is pretty clear in it's meaning, as is her open defiance of it.

Sooperphreek, you're suggesting that she could have stayed true to her religious beliefs by "inventing" a situation where she did not have to serve this customer that did not bring sexual orientation into the picture. That doesn't say much for her take on honesty and morality does it?

[grammafreddy]

Am thinking back to the people who had a B&B and refused to rent to a gay couple due to their religious beliefs. They lost.

[Nom_de_Plume]

Am thinking back to the people who had a B&B and refused to rent to a gay couple due to their religious beliefs. They lost.

Ya wasn't it they wanted to hold their wedding there?
can't remember the details at all except that the B&B wasn't allowed to discriminate, but I think (could be wrong) they closed their doors instead.
Crap I'm hoping my google-fu is strong, I'll try and see if I can find the article

[Nom_de_Plume]

Ok found it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/23/wildflower-inn-vermont-gay-marriage-lawsuit_n_1826218.html

Under the settlement, the inn also agreed it would no longer host weddings and their receptions. The innkeepers' lawyer, Jim Campbell, said they had decided previously to end that part of their business.