Since the election in November and the passage of Referendum 74 I've been waiting for this to happen. This is the very situation that caused me to cast my no vote.

While I have nothing against gay or lesbian couples getting married -- I know several couples that are married or intend to get married -- I do have a problem with their rights trampling the rights of someone else. The florist's refusal is not out of hate but her religious convictions, so if she is breaking the law, and someone chooses to prosecute her, is she not being persecuted for her religious beliefs, which in itself is illegal?

When the law was written, it did not go far enough to protect an individual's right of religious freedom because only religious organizations and clergy were exempted from the law. Business owners should have been given the same exemption. While you or I don't have to agree with their beliefs, they should be respected, just like the right of a homosexual couple.

-- DANA KISER, West Richland