Last month organizations including the Heritage Foundation, Family Research Council, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and Concerned Women for America sent an opposition letter to Republican House leaders. They say the bill does too much to extend SOGI protections to public accommodations—something the Utah Compromise did not touch.

A Republican congressman on Friday introduced sweeping legislation he says will balance the rights of religious and LGBT people, advancing a controversial religious freedom approach.

The Fairness for All Act (FFA), introduced by Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, would make sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) protected classes under the federal Civil Rights Act.

The bill would prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations. That includes retailers, banks, and healthcare service providers. The bill also seeks to protect a measure of religious freedom, exempting churches and religious nonprofits from the anti-discrimination rules. But for-profit business owners would be subject to the rules, unless they have fewer than 15 employees.

Some LGBT and religious groups oppose the measure, saying they are skeptical such an approach will make headway in Congress.

Stewart’s bill marks a new phase in a years long process: It’s the first time advocates of this approach have convinced a legislator to introduce such a bill in Congress.

The FFA approach has made inroads among some religious groups. Most notably, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) endorsed FFA last year. Following a backlash, NAE has since backed away from its advocacy and was noticeably absent from Friday’s press conference.

The main religious freedom groups driving the effort forward—the CCCU, the 1st Amendment Partnership, and the Center for Public Justice—have partnered with the American Unity Fund (AUF), a politically right-wing group that pushes LGBT rights. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the biggest proponent of the approach. The bill has also won the support of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

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