After eight years of battling for her religious freedom, Christian florist Barronelle Stuzman, the woman who gained national attention by refusing to serve a same-sex couple’s wedding in 2013, is giving up the legal fight.
Not that Stutzman, now her late 70s, is giving in to the LGBTQ’s agenda. But she’s retiring from her floral business in Bellevue, Washington, and therefore will not be forced to compromise her Christian beliefs by serving a same-sex couple.
WNG.org reported that Stuzman has settled her case with the American Civil Liberties Union and agreed to pay $5,000 to Rob Ingersoll, one member of a gay couple who sued her for declining to arrange flowers for a same-sex wedding nearly a decade ago. Stutzman said she is “at peace” with her decision to retire and therefore will avoid violating her conscience and paying what could have been millions of dollars in legal fees.
She has agreed to withdraw her hearing request to the Supreme Court and sell her shop, Arlene’s Flowers, to her employees.
In a statement, she said she never had to compromise her conscience during the ordeal, which began in 2013, and she was ready to “turn the legal struggle for freedom over to others.”
In an interview with Fox News, Stutzman said that her faith was “not for sale.”
“Rob and Curt” have every right to live the way they do and the way they feel with their beliefs. I’m just asking for that same right,” Stuzman said.
Stutzman and those like Colorado baker Jack Phillips have become heroes for those who have been persecuted for clinging to their Christian faith and who have decided not to make compromises by violating their beliefs despite cultural pressure. Stuzman has faced potentially “crippling” financial consequences as the ACLU targeted Stutmzan’s personal assets in the lawsuit against her.
Throughout the eight years of this case, Stutzman has maintained that she’s willing to serve same-sex couples but would not engage in particular forms of expression, such as supporting their weddings.
Since 2013, Stutzman told Fox News, her relationship with God has changed dramatically. When asked what she would tell others facing similar lawsuits she said, “God is just asking to be obedient and He will take care of the rest.”
Stutzman expressed her support to Lorie Smith, a Colorado web designer, whose similar case may receive a hearing before the Supreme Court. {eoa}
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