Florist under fire for refusing flowers for homosexual ‘wedding’

by Rebecca Millette

RIVERVIEW, New Brunswick, March 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A New Brunswick florist has come under fire by homosexual activists and their supporters for refusing to provide flowers to a lesbian couple for their “wedding” ceremony.  The florist, a Christian woman, reportedly said she does not want any part in a same-sex “marriage.”

Kimberly Evans owns and operates her business “Petals and Promises Wedding Flowers” from her family home in Riverview, N.B.  After discovering that the “wedding” she had agreed to provide flowers to last month was a same-sex event, Evans sent an email to the lesbian couple explaining that she could not take their business.

“I am choosing to decline your business. As a born-again Christian, I must respect my conscience before God and have no part in this matter,” the email said, according to CBC News.

LifeSiteNews.com spoke to Evans, who said that she is not making public comment at this time.

The couple’s wedding planner, Mario Bourgeois Leduc of La Teraz in Moncton, immediately made the issue public on Twitter, while refusing to release the names of the couple.  He said he was appalled and outraged by the Christian florist’s email.

“You’re celebrating love and you’re going against all of the odds to celebrate what is important in your life,” he told CBC News.  “This is going to stay with them for years, because they were again told that their lives are not OK.”

Leduc said the florist’s actions were wrong given that the New Brunswick Human Rights Act prohibits businesses from discrimination based on sexual orientation.  Other homosexual activists have suggested the couple take their case to the Human Rights Tribunal.  No case or complaints have been brought forward as yet.

Homosexual activists and supporters gathered outside Evans’ home-business on March 19 to protest the florist’s actions.  The protesters, who said they were spreading a message of tolerance, placed flowers with gay pride flags attached on the Evans’ lawn. 

Meanwhile, homosexual activists across Canada and the U.S. have taken up the cry against the Christian florist and demanded the case be taken to the courts.

However, ChristianGovernance reported that the Whitepine Baptist Church community in Riverview has supported Kimberley Evans and her husband.  A spokesperson at the church told the group that other Christians gathered to pray with the Evans family at the time of the protest against them.