A bill to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was withdrawn from the Indiana Legislature minutes before it reached a key hurdle in the Republican-controlled senate on Tuesday, rendering the bill dead.

Indiana is reeling from the bad publicity of a religious freedom law passed in 2015, and the bill was widely seen as a means repair the state's reputation as hostile to LGBT people.

"It has has become clear the bill lacks the support to advance in the senate any further," State Sen. Travis Holdman said in a floor speech. "As a result, I will not be calling for a vote."



"I am greatly greatly disappointed," he added, blaming the bill's demise on deadlock between factions of lawmakers, the LGBT movement, and far right.



Watched nationally as a bellwether for LGBT-rights legislation in GOP-led capitals, Senate Bill 344 was nominally intended to expand the rights of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. But, in a twist, it was opposed primarily by LGBT advocates.

Critics said the bill's language raised similar problems to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed last spring. Although it was modeled on a federal law, Indiana's statute had a broader scope, which critics said would allow private businesses to turn away LGBT customers. Facing a national uproar, Gov. Mike Pence called on lawmakers to pass "fix" bill that stated the law could not be used for discrimination. Despite signing that fix into law, polls have since found some people perceive the state as unwelcoming while business groups contend Indiana has lost millions in convention and tourism revenue.

This year's bill, critics said, allowed religious social service providers and small businesses to raise a faith-based defense if they turned away gays and lesbians.



The bill also lacked any protections for transgender people — which LGBT advocates and business interests considered a deal-breaker.



But the issue of LGBT rights is hardly dead in Indiana.

Senate president pro tempore David Long, the highest ranking Republican in the chamber, said Tuesday, "We'll come back to have this conversation, just not this year."

Advocacy groups had hoped the bill could be favorably amended during a second reading — Tuesday was the bill's deadline for that second reading.