Topeka ? A Senate panel has endorsed a bill that would prohibit discrimination in Kansas based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The bill was advanced Thursday by the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, with three voting against it.

The bill would ban discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodations based on sexual orientation. Kansas law already covers discrimination related to race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin or ancestry.

Tom Witt, chairman of the Kansas Equity Coalition, says the issue is one of fairness. The group has been proposing the bill since 2005.

Late last session, the committee sent the bill to Senate for debate but it was pulled from the calendar and sent back to the panel.