Liberals are cheering a pair of left-wing Tennessee florists who recently announced they will no longer serve Republican interests.
But one analyst notes the hypocrisy amid the cheers, as the Democratic florists make the same argument as Christian bakers, florists, photographers labeled as bigots for refusing the stoop to the LGBTQ lobby.
At issue is the FLWR Shop in Belle Meade, Tennessee.
According to Fox News on Thursday, the owners, Alex Vaughan, and Quinn Kiesow, drew national attention when they declined to make floral arrangements for an upcoming Republican National Committee (RNC) fundraiser that features as speakers former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
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In a reply to the RNC, the florists said the deal was “beyond our comfort level” because of Trump and the others.
They also said they held Republicans — and not the transgender shooter — responsible for the massacre at a Christian school in Nashville last month, which left six dead, including three children.
Vaughn and Kiesow called on “others in the Nashville event industry to say no to taking money or jobs from the Republican Party until they begin to make the changes to gun laws that most Americans are calling for.”
“At this moment, I (sic) cannot ignore the work the RNC has done to create this tragedy and so many others like it,” the FLWR Shop said about the massacre by a biological woman who claimed to be a man, according to Fox News.
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“The Republican Party has wasted taxpayer money and precious legislative will on banning drag shows, rather than assault rifles that are being used to murder children in their classrooms,” their statement read
Liberals on social media rallied behind the florists.
But writing in The Hill, George Washington University legal scholar Jonathan Turley noted the hypocrisy of left-wingers who assert the right of the florists to deny services to GOP members, but denounce Christian bakers and graphic artists who have turned down jobs for LGBTQ weddings on religious grounds.
“In my view, a Jewish baker should have a right to refuse to make a Mein Kampf cake, and an Black baker should be able to decline a KKK cake. They are all exercising their free speech rights. While they cannot refuse to sell pre-made products, these businesses cannot be compelled to speak in ways that violate their beliefs,” Turley wrote.
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“That is why I support this flower shop.”
“However, the test of free speech principles is their application to those with views that you oppose. That is one test that these supporters appear unwilling to meet,” he added.
“Rank and file liberal responses for the FLWR Shop have been a steady stream of ‘bravo’ and ‘brilliant’ accolades,” Turley continued.
Citing the case of 303 Creative, a Supreme Court case involving a Christian graphic artist who cited her religion in refusing to create a website for a gay wedding, Turley added, “We will see if the same accolades are forthcoming if the court (as some of us hope) reaffirms the free speech rights of florists, bakers, photographers, web designers and others.”
“In the end, the GOP can probably do without the displays from ‘the best flower shop’ more easily than the flower shop can do without free speech. The question is whether recognizing the free speech rights of Christian businesses will prove ‘outside the comfort zone’ for those currently cheering the FLWR Shop,” Turley concluded.
Somehow, it seems a no-brainer that leftists will champion speech for those on their side, but blast Christians for doing likewise.
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