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Utah's Senate on Friday advanced historic compromise legislation that would bar discrimination in housing and employment for the LGBT community, while offering religious liberty protections in the workplace.

SB296 passed on a 23-5 vote, two days after it debuted in a Capitol Hill news conference, which saw Utah's lesbian, gay, bisexuals and transgender leaders stand beside lawmakers from both parties and two Mormon church general authorities to jointly endorse the bill.

The vote brought tears and a round of cheers and from the standing-room-only Senate gallery, as LGBT activists and their supporters offered the body a standing ovation. SB296 now moves to the House.

This is the seventh year LGBT leaders have pushed for statewide nondiscrimination protections, but the only time such legislation has not died in a committee hearing, been buried or pushed off for interim study.

Last year, 13 gay activists, including Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams, were arrested trying to force lawmakers to address the issue. They were later charged with misdemeanors and their cases are still pending in Salt Lake City's Justice Court.

"This is a stunning, historic day. I couldn't stop crying through it. This says that LGBT Utahns belong in this state. We belong here and we are being woven into the legal fabric of the state," Williams said between hugs with supporters in the hall after the vote. "What a difference a year makes."

Sponsored by Sens. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, bill is now headed for a House committee hearing.

A separate bill by Adams, SB297, attempting to provide religious protections, caused something of a rift with the Republican senator and LGBT individuals.

Under the measure, advanced in committee Friday and on its way to the full Senate, government employees could refuse to marry gay couples — but would lose their privilege of marrying anyone. SB297 also states that religious institutions can't be compelled to conduct or recognize same-sex marriages, rent their buildings for gay weddings or provide services like marriage counseling.

Of particular concern to LGBT activists and the ACLU of Utah was a provision that would prohibit government "retaliation" against individuals who invoked religious beliefs to refuse to marry or provide accommodation and prohibit those religious beliefs from being the basis in any state licensing matter.

Adams said he was narrowing those protections to clarify that the conduct of licensed professionals would be protected when it occurs outside the workplace. He said he was sensitive to the concerns of critics, and pledged to continue to tweak the proposal.

Earlier in the Senate floor discussion of SB296, the antidiscrimination bill, some supporters spoke emotionally about their own experiences with racial discrimination, religious discrimination faced by early Mormons and their personal evolution on the question of LGBT rights or understanding of sexuality.

"We all have an equal right to pursue happiness," Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said, noting the Legislature's "rocky" history on gay-rights issues. "When we have a right to operate in the public square we have a moral obligation to treat everyone equally."