(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum is the classic example of why gays and lesbians need civil rights protections in Pennsylvania gay groups said Tuesday as they lobbied state legislators.

The Pennsylvania Lesbian and Gay Task Force and the Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition held separate news conferences at the Capitol to promote two bills that would outlaw LGBT discrimination.

Both bills would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which bars discrimination in matters of employment, housing and public accommodation. They would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression" to a list of protected characteristics that currently includes race, color, familial status, religion, ancestry, age, sex, national origin and disability.

The bills are in trouble and even supporters in the legislature say it is doubtful either will pass this year.

Speakers pointed to Santorum's recent interview with the Associated Press in which he compared homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery.

Daniel Miller, who said he was fired from a once-successful career at a central Pennsylvania company after his employer discovered he was gay, said Santorum's comments suggested that homosexuality is "somehow contrary to family values."

"If it weren't for my family's support, I'm not sure I would have made it" through the firing and the expensive legal battle with his former employer that followed, Miller said.

Rabbi Peter Kessler of Harrisburg, who is gay said he is disappointed by lawmakers who "insist on using the Bible as a weapon."