Gay rights, religious rights, and a compromise in an unlikely place: Utah

But the two sides, drawing on an unlikely trust nurtured during years of quiet rapprochement, were able that night to reach a breakthrough.

Within days, they sent a bill to the state legislature — and a message to a politically riven nation that compromise was possible, even on one of the most divisive social issues, even in one of its most conservative states.

In late 2013, a federal judge had struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, giving a lift to activists such as Dabakis who had been pushing the state to adopt legislation protecting gay men and lesbians against discrimination in such areas as housing and employment.

And as the question of same-sex marriage worked its way through the courts, ultimately winning a date before the U.S. Supreme Court this month, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew eager to reach an amicable compromise on gay and religious rights. It was determined to avoid what church officials saw as a polarized debate in several other states.