COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio House lawmakers moved to shield gay and transgendered Ohioans from being discriminated against in housing and employment issues in a historic vote Tuesday afternoon.

By a vote of 56-39, the anti-discrimination measure passed the House with five Republicans, including Rep. Matthew Dolan of Russell Township, joining all 51 majority Democrats present in the House chamber in approving the measure. It now moves to the Senate, where Senate President Bill Harris, an Ashland Republican, has told reporters he doesn't believe the measure is needed.

Supporters painted it as bringing fairness to the workplace by adding protections for gay and transgendered Ohioans, while opponents said it forced people to endorse a lifestyle that many object to on religious grounds. Lawmakers may have been split over the issue, but the crowded public gallery above the House floor was united in support of the legislation. Audience members gave lawmakers a standing ovation as House Speaker Armond Budish gaveled the crowd back to order. It was the first time Ohio lawmakers have voted to extend civil rights protections to people on the basis of sexual orientation.

"This was a very big vote," said Budish, a Beachwood Democrat, after the session. "This was important for Ohio. There is no reason why someone should be able to be fired from a job because of their race or their religion or their gender or their sexual orientation. We have brought Ohio's laws into a more fair and just state today."

The legislation adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of classifications for which it is illegal to discriminate for housing, employment and public-accommodation purposes. It is already illegal in Ohio to discriminate against a person on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, handicap, age and ancestry.

Some conservative lawmakers were aghast at what they saw as an thinly veiled attack on the traditional family. Rep. Jeff Wagner, a northwest Ohio Republican, said lawmakers "should not use the machinery of government to force people to accept lifestyles that they do not believe in."

Said Wagner: "If I must blindly accept everyone's lifestyle to be nondiscriminatory, then that is a price that I'm not willing to pay."

Further salt in the wounds for most House Republicans was a parliamentary end run Democrats used to block an amendment that Republicans wanted to offer. The amendment, being pushed behind the scenes by the powerful Ohio Chamber of Commerce, would have made changes to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission's procedures, including capping damages on awards.

Tuesday's vote was a long time coming for supporters who had watched previous proposals do little more than gather dust since as far back as 2002.

The vote helps make gay and transgendered people feel more welcome in Ohio, said Lynne Bowman, executive director of Equality Ohio, a nonpartisan group that advocates for gay and transgendered rights. In 2004, Ohio voters passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

"It's about economic development," Bowman said. "It's about tearing down the fences at the borders of Ohio that say, 'You are not welcome here.' "