'Milestone': (Utah Gov.) Herbert signs LGBT nondiscrimination, religious freedom protections bill

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

With the swipe of a pen, Gov. Gary Herbert enacted a landmark compromise bill that gives Utah its first statewide nondiscrimination protections for the gay and transgender community while safeguarding religious liberties for people of faith.

Herbert signed SB296 in the Capitol Rotunda, surrounded by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and a bipartisan collection of lawmakers, who worked for weeks in concert with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to craft the proposal.

... In a statement issued Thursday, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights advocacy group, called the bill a historic "milestone compromise."

"A Republican majority has voted to expand Utah's existing nondiscrimination protections to include the state's LGBT community for the very first time," Griffin said. "Equality Utah, the ACLU of Utah and the bipartisan group of legislators who worked around the clock to move this legislation forward have achieved an incredible and collaborative victory for the people of Utah."

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/2283645-155/milestone-herbert-signs-lgbt-nondiscrimination-religious