A Utah bill that would have made it illegal for businesses in that state to refuse to serve gay or transgender people for religious reasons will not pass this year.
Bill sponsor Democratic Sen. Jim Dabakis of Salt Lake City says he doesn't want to distract from a pending hate crime proposal which would add protections for gay and transgender people.
Utah residents are currently protected in public businesses from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, ancestry or national origin. This plan would have added sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to that list.
Dabakis, the Utah Legislature's only openly gay lawmaker, introduced the proposal last week. He says he is pleased the proposal was considered, even for just a short amount of time.