The very groups that were at such angry loggerheads over the issue of California's same-sex marriage ban not that long ago have struck an agreement for a new law that seeks to respect the humanity and conscience of all concerned.
In Utah.
Despite a couple of troublesome glitches, apparently tolerated in the name of the Legislature's grand Kumbaya moment, the bill deserves the fast track to approval that seems to be its destiny. And then it won't be just the gay community that can take pride in the state.
It was just seven years ago that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints openly, and at great expense, took on the backers of equal rights for gays and lesbians in the fight over California's Proposition 8. That was the ballot initiative that sought to ban same-sex marriage in the most populous state in the nation. The measure passed, only to be abandoned by the state's elected leaders and effectively stricken by a 2013 Supreme Court ruling.
It its wake were many ongoing recriminations and hard feelings between the two camps, a trend that threatened to continue and escalate the nation's horribly divisive culture wars.
But in Utah, the world headquarters of the LDS Church, and in Salt Lake City, widely seen as one of the gay-friendliest cities on the continent, much progress has been made.
Senate Bill 296, introduced Wednesday, would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBT people in employment and housing. Salt Lake City and several other Utah municipalities already have such laws, but the drive for a statewide version, led by state Sen. Stephen Urquhart, had been frustrated by the feeling among Mormons and others that obeying such a law would infringe on the religious beliefs and freedoms of those whose faith teaches them that such behaviors and relationships are sinful.
SB296 addresses that by offering a clear, and clearly limited, exemption for religious organizations and for religious leaders, when acting in that capacity. It also makes it clear that no one can be fired or otherwise punished in a workplace for having an opinion on either side of the issue, or for expressing those opinions outside the workplace.
Clearly, the fact that the federal courts not only threw out California's ban on same-sex marriage, but invalidated Utah's as well, gave church leaders a reason to sue for peace. And to retain for themselves a zone of control that, in a more perfect world, would not be considered.
Deep in the bill, more than 800 lines down, are provisions that exempt from the non-discrimination provisions rental properties that are owned or operated by, or "under contract with," a religious organization. That seems aimed at the many rental units near the LDS-owned Brigham Young University, in Provo, whose landlords cannot rent to BYU students unless they enforce to the school's restrictive honor code in all their units. Under SB296, those landlords will not only be allowed by law, but compelled by contract, to deny housing to openly gay people and same-sex couples, even if they are not BYU students.
The bill also includes a legalism called a nonseverability clause. This means that if anyone raises a court challenge to the novel "religious freedom" aspects of the bill, and wins, the more common non-discrimination parts will fall as well.
Even with those narrow flaws in the bill, church leaders deserve credit for seeing the writing on the wall — not everyone has — and for reaching out to those of different beliefs to come up with the proposed law.
Public officials would still be expected to do their civil duty, regardless of religious affiliation.
The touchy question of public accommodations — florists, caterers, photographers — and whether they may or may not discriminate is not addressed. That is to be expected in a bill that focuses on employment and housing, as state and local anti-discrimination laws in Utah generally do.
It also means that there are still controversies to be faced and settled concerning the clash of right and right, belief and belief.
But those who have worked so hard, and with so much patience, to come up with SB296 deserve much credit for their recognition of one another's humanity. It can be, as the only openly gay member of the Legislature, Sen. Jim Dabakis, says, a win for all, and a model of how people of different beliefs can work together, here and everywhere.