Update on the Cranston Flowers

The tally goes something like this. One Cranston store did not want to show ID. Another thought it would be bad for business. Another was closed.  A fourth store in Connecticut, originally agreed, but then cancelled under threat of loss of business.  Finally a fifth store agreed, but received at least one harassing phone call.  Honestly all of this is fitting after Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Cranston prayer banner debate shifts to flowers as businesses refuse to deliver to the teenage girl at the center of the battle. The Freedom From Religion Foundation in Wisconsin had to go out of state to find a florist to deliver flowers to the Cranston West teen, after four other Rhode Island businesses said "no thanks" to the order.


Co-owner of Glimpse of Gaia Florist Sean Condon, drove all the way from Connecticut to deliver the flowers to the atheist teen who won the lawsuit against her school over a prayer banner. Cranston West was ordered to take the banner down. It's temporarily covered, pending the school committees decision on an appeal.


Condon said, "I think we don't discriminate against people for any reason."


The anti-religious group wanted to send Ahlquist congratulatory flowers, but four different florists in Rhode Island refused.


Owner of Twins Florist in Cranston, Marina Plowman, was one of the businesses to reject the order.


Plowman said, "It's my freedom of speech I refuse orders when I want and I take orders when I want."


Plowman said part of the reason why she rejected the order was because of the warning that came with it. It said Ahlquist was under the public eye and the deliverer would need to show id to prove they weren't a threat. It was a warning that Plowman says helped make her decision.


"I mean it's not worth it for me to do that," she said.


Floral Express was the second to turn the order down saying they'd be closed on the day of delivery. We checked, and the door was locked. The third business to deny delivery to the teen was Flowers by Santilli.


Owner Raymond Santilli said, "we have beliefs as well as the individual that's in the middle of all this, and we just feel that it's better for us as a business and the city itself just to stay away from this and not to cross the lines."


A warwick florist had agreed to the order, but later withdrew. Ending the flower efforts with Sean Condon. He says almost immediately after delivering the flowers he started receiving harassing phone calls.


Condon said, "That we should be ashamed of ourselves for delivering to that girl. She sounded like a middle-aged woman and this is a teenage girl so I thought to myself I'm not so sure I should be the one ashamed of myself."


The Freedom From Religion Foundation in Wisconsin says they are filing civil complaints against the florists that refused their order.[1]

Text of Cranston West prayer banner

Our Heavenly Father,
Grant us each day the desire to do our best,
To grow mentally and morally as well as physically,
To be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers,
To be honest with ourselves as well as with others,
Help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win,
Teach us the value of true friendship,
Help us always to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School West.
Amen [1]

Four Florists Refused to Send Flowers to an Atheist

The Freedom From Religion Foundation tried to send flowers to Jessica Ahlquist, because she has received violent threats and condemnations.[1]   Ridiculousness ensued.

CRANSTON, R.I. -- Jessica Ahlquist, the 16-year-old student who fought to remove a prayer banner at Cranston High School West, will get a dozen roses Thursday.

But they won't come from a Cranston florist. Three refused to deliver the flowers, saidAnnie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group based in Madison, Wis.

"Our jaws dropped" after two florists refused to deliver the flowers and a third said the shop was closed, Gaylor said.

A Warwick florist, Greenwood Flower & Garden,agreed to make the delivery, said Gaylor, who said the foundation would file a complaint with the state Commission for Human Rights.

"We are a national group and we've never seen anything like this in recent history," she said. [2]

This is how FFRF described it.

Late yesterday, the local florist called FFRF’s office to report she had struck out at three Cranston florist’s shops, including at Twins Florist, which responded to the order in writing with this statement: “I will not deliver to this person.” The other two shops mysteriously produced unusual excuses for refusing the order. Gaylor said when she heard this news, “My jaw literally dropped. Everyone is stunned by the bigotry.” [3]

But then...

WARWICK FLORIST WON’T DELIVER: The Warwick florist whose business was asked to deliver flowers to Jessica Ahlquist said Thursday he would not do so because of what he calls “negative publicity.”

“No matter what I do, I get punched in the face,” said Daryal Romano, the owner of Greenwood Flower & Garden. Romano said he decided to nix the delivery to Ahlquist after customers who heard about the delivery threatened to stop doing business with him.

Instead, Glimpse of Gaia in Putnam, Conn., has agreed to deliver the flowers this afternoon, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Glimpse of Gaia’s owner, Stephanie Ewart-Condon, confirmed the delivery.

“I deliver to people of all faiths and non-faiths,” Ewart-Condon said Thursday. [2]

FFRF is filing a Civil Rights complaint against the florist who said, “I will not deliver to this person.”  [4] Like with the Gelato Man incident, the florist broke the following section of Civil Rights Act.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title II Sec 201

All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.[5]

Police investigate threats against student in banner case

Police said Friday they were investigating threats made against a 16-year-old student who fought for and won the removal of a prayer banner at Cranston High School West.

Jessica Ahlquist has faced harassment both in person and online. She said the court battle has cost her friends and that she doesn't know if she'll return to the school.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the prayer banner in the school auditorium is unconstitutional and must be removed. School officials covered it with a green tarp while they decide whether to appeal.

But debate over the banner hasn't been silenced.

"I think it's been a distraction to the kids in the school. I'll be glad when it's over, things blow over," said parent Kristen Ciacciarelli.

Online, the discussion is far from blowing over. Hateful posts hit Facebook, Twitter and other blogs. Threats have been aimed directly at the 16-year-old Ahlquist, a self-proclaimed atheist.

"It's been very disappointing to read many of the comments being made, not only by students but also the public at large. It's been a difficult time for Jessica and her family as well as the district," Ray Votto, the chief operating officer of Cranston.

Cranston school officials said they are working with police to help protect the teen. NBC 10 has learned that one Cranston public school student has been disciplined because of an online post.

"Police and school personnel are definitely cracking down on it. They see the effects of it and they will take legal action against it," said Amanda Hannon of Stop Bullying Now RI.

School officials said the student who made a post does not attend Cranston West and was not suspended. They wouldn't go into further detail. [1]