Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus didn't vote on the proposal Wednesday, but recalled Franciscan nuns in the 1950s teaching him to check the whites of a person's eyes to see if they'd been baptized Catholic.

"Sometimes you wonder, do we need to just grow up?” he asked.

"All that mix of human skill and ability is in the soup which is humanity. ... To discriminate is just as dumb as looking into somebody's eyes to see if they are Lutheran or Catholic."

Morfeld said he will consider introducing a more sweeping bill next legislative session that also includes protections for LGBT people in housing and other areas.

Meanwhile the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is pursuing lawsuits against employers, arguing the Civil Rights Act's ban on sex discrimination also covers sexual orientation.

Eskridge, the Lincoln councilman, said he and other supporters of LGBT workplace protections are watching those cases as local officials decide how to proceed.

Lincoln technically could still put its measure on the November ballot, but the language must first be approved by a majority of the City Council, Eskridge said. He called a public vote a "suspect method" for determining the rights of a minority.

"There are just a lot of factors to figure out."

Reach the writer at 402-473-7234 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com. On Twitter @zachamiLJS.

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