House Bill 2153/Senate Bill 1062, otherwise known as the "Faith Protections Bill," was passed on Thursday in the state House by a 33-27 vote, and would allow the defense of religious freedom to be claimed by individuals, churches and businesses if faced with lawsuits claiming discrimination because of bias against same-sex relationships.

According to an AZCentral.com report, the legislation proposes to:

• Expand the state's definition of the exercise of religion to include both the practice and observance of religion.

• Allow someone to assert a legal claim of free exercise of religion regardless of whether the government is a party to the proceedings.

• Expand those protected under the state's free-exercise-of-religion law to "any individual, association, partnership, corporation, church, religious assembly or institution or other business organization."

• Establish wording that says that in order to assert a free-exercise-of-religion defense, the individual, business or church must establish that its action is motivated by a religious belief, that the belief is sincerely held and that the belief is substantially burdened.

Opponents say the bill could keep members of the gay community from obtaining jobs that might be desired or from gaining access to "nearly any business or service," said the report.

But speaking for the measure, Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park noted, "We are trying to protect people's religious liberties. We don't want the government coming in and forcing somebody to act against their religious sacred faith beliefs or having to sell out if you are a small-business owner."

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