By T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

The Minnesota Legislature passed a funeral protest bill on Monday (May 1) with three dissenting votes.

The legislation stems in part from a protest by anti-gay activists at the funeral of a Cambridge soldier in Anoka.

Both House and Senate speedily passed protest bills, though the House, unlike the Senate, set a distance in their bill that protesters must keep away from funerals.

ìThat was something the House absolutely insisted on,î said Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, speaking on the Senate floor about the funeral protest conference committee report.

The final version of the bill makes it a misdemeanor to disrupt a funeral, graveside ceremony or memorial by protesting within 500 feet of the grave, funeral facility, or memorial service.

The law applies one hour prior to, during, and after the service or ceremony.

It also prohibits targeted picketing at the home of any surviving member of the deceased personís family or household the day of the service.

The legislation passed the House on a 121 to 2 vote and the Senate on a vote of 66 to 1.

Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, voted against the bill in the House. Abeler said while he voted for the bill on its first passage, he had reflected on its implications to free speech over the past weeks.

While calling the anti-gay protest at the soldierís funeral in Anoka ìheinousî and ìawful,î Abeler didnít like the direction the bill was taking, he explained.

ìI just think itís a really scary place to go,î he said about the perceived threat to free speech.

The bill now goes to the Governorís desk for signing.