The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voiced support for a Utah bill protecting LGBT rights this week. 

The proposed legislation adds sexual orientation and transgender identification as protected classes, while exempting religious groups from discrimination. 

The bill was introduced on Wednesday with the backing of the Mormon church, both political parties, and LGBT activists.

"This is a historic day," said Equality Utah executive director Troy Williams. "People from diverse backgrounds have come together to craft what no one thought was possible."

"If Utah can do this, in my opinion, it can be done anywhere else in the nation," Republican Sen. Stuart Adams added. 

The proposal bans LGBT housing and employment discrimination, but allows churches and religiously-affiliated groups such as the Boy Scouts to maintain their own practices. 

Family values advocacy organisation Utah Eagle Forum said the religious exemptions don't go far enough. 

"It's heavy on protection for special classes of people that I don't believe should be a special class, but it's very light on religious protections," the group's president, Gayle Ruzicka, insisted.  

LDS Church Quorum of the Twelve Apostles member D. Todd Christofferson called the bill a good compromise. 

"In this approach, we acknowledged that neither side or no party may get all they want," he admitted. "It is better if both sides get most of what is desired than to have a winner-take-all where one side loses."

The Mormon Church announced in January that it supported anti-discrimination legislation to protect LGBT Americans, fast-tracking the current legislation.

Catholic and Episcopal leaders were consulted about the bill, according to Democratic Sen. Jim Dabakis, but they did not endorse it. 

Republican Sen. Steve Urquhart said the Boy Scouts were not consulted during proposal negotiations, and did not request an exemption. Their inclusion was decided by a 2000 Supreme Court decision allowing the organisation to ban gay scoutmasters.

Boy Scouts of America national spokesman Deron Smith declined to comment on the bill.