Adams was explaining why, in March, his state passed a compromise LGBT rights bill that protected LGBT people from discrimination in housing and employment but exempted religious schools.

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Using religion to explain his reasoning is notable given how sharply the recent gay and transgendered rights debate has fallen along religious lines. Many Republican states are passing laws aimed at protecting the religiously devout from having to participate in something (a gay wedding, for example) they don't agree with.

Adams appears to be saying the exact opposite: Religion isn't meant to close you off from people. It's a tool to open you up, especially with people you don't agree with.

More from Adams's interview with Inskeep (which you can listen to in full here):

"If you're a true Christian, you surely want to take care and love your neighbor. And at some point in time, at the very beginning, my impression was that perhaps I needed to restrict the ability for anyone to exist that didn't agree with me. And that's not a great principle, is it?"

Let's pause here to note that Utah isn't suddenly flinging its bathrooms open to everyone. Utah is actually one of 11 states suing the federal government for requiring public schools to open up their bathrooms and locker rooms to transgender students.

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But Adams told Inskeep the lawsuit is less about actual bathrooms and locker rooms and more about the principle of the federal government interjecting itself where it doesn't belong. South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) seemed to echo a similar sentiment in March when he became the first governor, Republican or Democrat, to veto a bill restricting transgenders' access to bathrooms of their choice.

"Local school districts can, and have, made necessary restroom and locker room accommodations that serve the best interests of all students, regardless of biological sex or gender identity," Daugaard said in a statement.

We're closely following conservative arguments for expanding LGBT rights because initial polling suggests some Republicans might be open to it.

A recent poll suggested almost half of Republicans are opposed to laws requiring transgender people to use bathrooms that matches the gender on their birth certificates.

And lately a handful of GOP lawmakers — from members of Congress to Southern governors — are publicly bucking their party on the broader issue of LGBT rights.

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We recently posited why that might be. Republican members of Congress and governors have made the case that: (1) businesses aren't on board, (2) Republicans' current LGBT position isn't winning them any new constituents, (3) it's big government to step into bathrooms, and (4) the bills are more drama than they're worth.