A florist in eastern Washington state fined $1,000 for refusing to sell a same-sex couple wedding flowers and also facing a consumer-protection lawsuit has netted more than $87,000 in a crowdfunding campaign.

The Seattle Times reports that nearly half of the money on the gofundme.com page set up in February for 70-year-old Barronelle Stutzman came in the last several days.

Supporters compare Stutzman's benefit page to an Indiana pizza shop that raised more than $800,000 after closing when the owner said the shop wouldn't cater a gay wedding.

Supporters: An online campaign for Richland, Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman (pictured) has raised over $87,000 after the florist was fined for refusing to provide a gay couple with flowers for their 2013 wedding

Refused service: Couple Robert Ingersoll (left) and Curt Freed (right) were longtime customers at Stutzman's shop, and while she was fine providing them flowers before, she cited her religious beliefs when declining to service their wedding

Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers and Gifts in Richland, Washington, received the fine in Benton County Superior Court in March after refusing to serve same-sex couple Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed in 2013.

When longtime customer Ingersoll came to Arlene's Flowers and asked for the flowers, the devout Southern Baptist told him her 'relationship with Jesus Christ' wouldn't allow her to do the wedding.

After they were refused flowers, Ingersoll and Freed went ahead with a smaller wedding than they had planned. They got married in their home with 11 guests and flowers from another florist.

In a February ruling, Benton County Superior Judge Alexander Ekstrom found that Stutzman's refusal to provide flowers because of sexual orientation violated Washington's anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws. Along with the fine, the judge's ruling also requires that everything Arlene's Flowers sells to opposite-sex couples has to be available at the same price to same-sex couples.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office requested the fine, said in a statement Friday that the ruling is a reminder of the reach of Washington's anti-discrimination laws.

'My primary goal has always been to end illegal discrimination,' Ferguson said. 'I'm pleased that today's ruling clearly prohibits discrimination against same-sex couples.'

Before Ferguson's office filed the consumer-protection lawsuit against Stutzman, it had sent her a letter asking for an agreement to no longer discriminate, which she refused. Ferguson's statement Friday said the office would not have sued if Stutzman had accepted the agreement