The U.S. Supreme Court today in an unsigned order said a lower court should reconsider the case of a florist in the state of Washington who refused to make an arrangement for a same-sex wedding.
It was not a finding on the core question, but it had the immediate effect of overturning the lower court that ruled against the florist. The Supreme Court said the case should be considered in light of the recent wedding cake case, in which the court found the Colorado agency that enforces the state’s anti-discrimination law had demonstrated hostility to religion.
UPDATE: Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who favors legal discrimination against gay people, cheered the ruling. She’d joined a number of Republican legal officers in a brief supporting discrimination by the florist. She calls this a victory for free speech. The Washington Supreme Court had declined to view a floral arrangement as speech.