HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A bill to extend anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation passed a Pennsylvania House committee on a party-line vote March 11.

Democratic supporters hailed it as a necessary step to end bias in housing, employment, credit or public accommodations, while Republican opponents said it would infringe on religious beliefs and was being pushed through too quickly.

“I am concerned that in protecting the rights of one group of citizens, we could be taking away the rights of another group,” said Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-Bucks.

The committee voted not to take up Quinn’s amendment that would have exempted religious schools and day-care centers from altering their hiring practices based on the law.

All 12 Democrats on the State Government Committee voted in favor of the bill, and all 11 Republicans were opposed.

The bill would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to extend its protections against discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The act currently prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age, gender, national origin, non-job-related disability or the use of a guide or support animal.

Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, the ranking Republican on the committee, said many GOP members are new to the committee and feel they did not receive adequate notice that such a potentially controversial bill would be considered.

Benninghoff, R-Centre, said he has misgivings about some of the bill’s provisions and that makes him unlikely to support it.

“It’s a very gray area,” he said. “Who defines ‘expression,’ ‘gender perception’? That really puts employers in a very difficult position in a commonwealth that’s struggling to keep employers.”

Just getting a favorable committee vote was a victory for supporters; similar measures have died in each of the last three legislative sessions without reaching the House floor.

“It really is high time that we protected all Pennsylvanians equally,” said the sponsor, Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny.

Twenty states already have adopted similar legislation, Frankel said.

“We aren’t really being a trailblazer here,” he said.

Frankel said he was disappointed in the party-line vote but hopes to attract at least a few Republican votes once the bill reaches the floor.

“Obviously there are some – many, I would say – who are fairly opposed, and there’s probably nothing we can do to mitigate their concerns,” he said.

Rep. Glen Grell, R-Cumberland, said he wanted the bill to have more explicit exceptions for religious organizations. He voted against the bill in committee but said he can envision supporting a different version.

“I think there are others on our side who certainly don’t condone employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, but this bill doesn’t fully accomplish what’s intended, and it has other consequences that are unacceptable,” Grell said.

Stephen A. Glassman, who chairs the state Human Relations Commission, said dozens of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people approach his agency with discrimination complaints every year, highlighting the need to expand the law. Many more would do so if state law offered them more protection, he said.

“It’s very, very costly for LGBT people to not have these protections in place,” Glassman said.