The Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday approved a bill which seeks to protect opponents of marriage equality.

According to the Washington Blade, House Bill 2025 cleared the House with a 57-37 vote.

The bill, proposed by Republican Delegate Nicholas Freitas, protects individuals who refuse to participate in a marriage ceremony based on their “religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman” from criminal or civil liability. The bill's definition of a “person” includes an “organization supervised or controlled by or operated in connection with a religious organization.”

Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish called the bill “dangerous.”

“We recognize that religion is a vital part of many Virginians’ daily lives, but HB 2025 does not protect religious liberty. Instead, it provides a license to discriminate against loving LGBTQ families,” Parirish said in a statement released through the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “Furthermore, its broad and vague definition of ‘person’ would set a dangerous precedent for discriminatory individuals and groups to be protected by our religious freedom laws.”

Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed a similar bill last year.