One person's rights do not have to come at the expense of another's. If we can find common ground on religious freedom and LGBT issues in Utah - one of the nation's most religious and conservative states - we can do it anywhere in the country.

Sometimes, we find common ground; more often, we don't.

Our civil rights have no dependence upon our religious opinions more than our opinions in physics or geometry.

We live in a country that used to have a can-do attitude, and now we have a 'what-can-you-do-for-me?' attitude, and what I try to do is find ways that we can develop common ground.

I came from a country where religious fundamentalists, including governmental authorities, denied my freedom to have thoughts that are different from their own. As a punishment, they demanded my execution by hanging. I was forced to leave my own country. I had to pay heavily for the sole reason that I believe in human rights and freedom of expression.

In a politically diverse nation, only by finding that common ground can we achieve results for the common good.