[JURIST] Utah lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled legislation that aims to balance religious rights and protections against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) discrimination in the workplace and housing. The bill, SB 0296 [text], proposes adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Utah’s anti-discrimination laws for housing and employment, clarifies exemptions for religious institutions and provides protections for religious expression. In a rare occurrence, a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stood alongside LGBT rights advocates, community members and legislators to publicly support the bill.

LGBT rights remain controversial throughout the US. Last month Arkansas enacted a bill [JURIST report] that prohibits cities and local governments from establishing ordinances with anti-discrimination codes. Earlier in February the governor of Kansas rescinded [JURIST report] an executive order protecting LGBT state employees from the discrimination, and the Oklahoma House of Representatives [official website] approved a bill [Reuters report] that would protect clergy members from involvement in lawsuits for their refusal to conduct same-sex marriages. Also in February the Florida House of Representatives [official website] introduced a bill that could prohibit [Huffington Post report] transgender people from choosing a bathroom, instead confining them to use the bathroom designated to the sex a person was at birth.