For the first time in the history, a bill prohibiting employment or housing discrimination of LGBT people based on sexual orientation and gender identity passed the House of Representatives of the Ohio General Assembly (the state legislature) on Tuesday, September 15, www.columbusdispatch.com informs.

The bill, which has been introduced four times but has always stalled in committee, passed 56-38 and now goes for voting to the state senate, where it could hit a wall.

The President of the GOP-controlled Senate, the Republican from Ashland, Bill Harris, has said repeatedly that although the measure will get a hearing, he doesn’t see a need for the legislation and that there are already sufficient protections in place. “Other people are getting that evidence and information (of discrimination), but I am not,” Harris said. “I talk to business people all the time, and they’re saying it’s not an issue. If they had trouble with it, they’d be trying to get a law passed.”

Twenty US states have LGBT anti-discrimination laws, as do 443 Fortune 500 companies and 17 Ohio cities.