The 3 - July 4, 2021

This week's edition of The 3 includes news from the U.S. Supreme Court, including the rejection of two cases involving a violation of God's view of sexuality, as stated in His Word: a floral designer in Washington state who would not provide creative products for a same-sex wedding ceremony has found her case rejected by the high court and the high court also rejected the case of a Virginia biological female identifying as a male who demanded that her school district accommodate her in private spaces, such as restrooms.  And, the U.S. State Department has invented a "third" gender option on passport applications. 

Floral designer's case will not be heard by high court

After around eight years of bouncing up and down the Washington state and federal court systems, Barronelle Stutzman, described as a "floral artist" on the Alliance Defending Freedom website is no closer to finding relief in the courts after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her case.

As the ADF website states, a longtime customer of Stutzman's shop, Arlene's Flowers, came to the store one day with a request to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding ceremony.  The site says:

...when Rob asked her to design floral arrangements to celebrate his same-sex wedding, Barronelle knew that because of her Christian beliefs about marriage, she couldn’t agree.

So, she walked Rob to a quiet part of her shop, took his hand in her own, and gently told him why she couldn’t do what he asked. Barronelle then referred Rob to three local floral artists who she knew would do a good job. They chatted a few more minutes about Rob’s wedding plans, hugged, and then Rob left the shop.

Unfortunately, Rob's partner wrote about the encounter on social media, the Washington Attorney General got involved, and filed a lawsuit.  The Washington Supreme Court ruled against her in 2017, and that year, "Barronelle appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. It then sent her case back to the Washington Supreme Court in June 2018 after the decision in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case."  The Washington high court against ruled against her, prompting the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case. 

High court also sides with biological female identifying as male in case involving use of private spaces

Another repeat performance at the Supreme Court occurred within the past week.  A case the high court had heard several years ago, in which it had offered a stay on a lower court action, came before the justices again, and this time, the case of a biological female identifying as male was rejected.

The Christian Post reports that:

In 2015, Grimm, born female but identifies as male, filed a lawsuit against Gloucester County Public Schools. The student claimed that policies preventing trans-identified students from using bathrooms and sex-specific changing areas that correspond with their gender identity violated Title IX civil rights law.

At issue was the preference of Grimm to use the boy’s restrooms and locker rooms, despite being biologically female.

Later that year, a federal district court judge ruled against Grimm, but a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of the student the next year.  The Supreme Court put that ruling on hold and sent it back down to the appeals court, it went back to the district level, then to the Fourth Circuit, which ruled against the school district yet again last year; the case was turned back by the Supreme Court this past week. It is worth noting that the high school Grimm attended had actually constructed single-use restrooms in order to accommodate Grimm. 

State Department to issue "third-gender" option

More gender-related confusion is on the way, this time from the U.S. State Department, which has announced it will offer a third option on passport applications in the future.

ChristianHeadlines.com reports that:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement in a statement, saying the change is part of the Biden administration’s commitment “to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people – including LGBTQI+ persons.”

“We will be updating our procedures to allow applicants to self-select their gender as ‘M’ or ‘F’ and will no longer require medical certification if an applicant’s self-selected gender does not match the gender on their other citizenship or identity documents,” Blinken said.

The State Department, Blinken said, has begun moving toward “adding a gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming” persons applying for a passport or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA).

This prompted Franklin Graham to post on Twitter, according to the article:

This administration seems to have declared war on common sense, & they want everyone to go along w/a lie. This is another reminder of the desperate need for Christians to PRAY for our nation & all those in leadership—whether we agree with them or not. We need God’s mercy & help.