Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Did Jeb Bush Just Side Against Rights of Christian Florists, Bakers?

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

UPDATE: The Bush campaign has responded.  I stand corrected.

Astonishingly, no-one appears to have noticed this bit in a Politico story on Ted Olson, former conservative, endorsing the so-called Equality Act:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush weighed in on the issue of anti-discrimination bans during a visit last week to a tech start-up in California. When asked by a gay employee whether or not he favors anti-discrimination protections for LGBT citizens, Bush responded that a florist “should be obligated to sell [a gay couple] flowers; doing otherwise would be discriminatory.” He added, though, that a florist objecting to same-sex marriage should not be obligated to participate in the wedding ceremony itself.

Barronelle Stutzman, Melissa Klein, Kelvin Cochran and all the others now being prosecuted as criminals for refusing to cater a gay wedding: Jeb Bush has apparently sided with your persecutors.

Read more here.

UPDATE: Some viewers read this story differently from the way I did and suggest that Bush was saying florists should have to serve gay customers flowers but not provide flowers for same-sex weddings.  We are reaching out to the Bush campaign for clarification.

Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at American Principles in Action.

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