Democratic lawmakers want to make it illegal for S.C. businesses to deny services to customers based on their sexual orientation.

State Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, took to the state Senate floor Wednesday to introduce a bill to amend state law to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“These are our family, our friends, our colleagues, our constituents – these are South Carolinians,” Hutto said.

S.C. laws now ban discrimination based on sex, age, race and religion, and cover accommodations, employment, and housing including rental units.

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The move comes as state religious protection laws are in the headlines, thanks to Indiana’s passage of a law that critics say would allow businesses to discriminate against some customers based on their sexual orientation.

South Carolina has a similar law, the Religious Freedom Act. S.C. lawmakers passed that law in 1999 because they feared the government could interfere with citizens exercising their religious freedom, according to Columbia attorney Malissa Burnette.

Today, Hutto said, South Carolina is in the midst of recruiting world-class businesses. Many of those businesses, he added, have said they will not do business in states that sanction discrimination.

Passing a law to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation is “good for business,” Hutto said, adding, “It’s just the right thing to do.”

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said Wednesday that plans are on track to file a similar bill, making it illegal for any S.C. business to deny services to a customer based on sexual orientation, when the House returns to Columbia in mid-April.

In a news release, Rutherford said his bill would signal businesses and consumers that South Carolina has “one of the most inclusive and welcoming business environments in the entire country.”

Rutherford said that if a same-sex couple can be legally married in South Carolina, no one should be able to legally deny them services. “Discriminating against someone simply because of whom they love shouldn't just be frowned upon – it should be illegal.”

The Republican chairman of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that he will look at Hutto’s bill but South Carolina already has substantial anti-discrimination laws.

Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, also said he had not heard of any S.C. businesses turning down customers based on sexual orientation. The state’s Religious Freedom Act, he added, is designed to be a shield for folks – “not an offensive weapon.”

Spokespersons for the state Chamber of Commerce and Gov. Nikki Haley did not immediately return phone calls.

Both Hutto and Rutherford’s proposals will face opposition.

“I would obviously oppose what Senator Hutto has offered up,” said state Sen. Lee Bright, adding he will make a procedural move to tie up the proposal. The Spartanburg Republican said Hutto’s proposal would give “a special class” to people “in the view of so many folks of faith, to do something that is … unacceptable behavior.”