FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Flanked by National Guard soldiers and veterans of all ages, Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed legislation into law last week that will keep protesters away from military funerals.

The measure is aimed at members of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., who have been holding demonstrations at funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq. Carrying signs with slogans such as “God Hates Fags,” the protesters claim U.S. soldiers are dying because God is punishing America for tolerating homosexuality.

So far, 27 states have introduced legislation to either ban or curtail funeral protests. Kentucky is one of six states to enact such laws. The others are Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“It’s a hard thing to go to a man’s funeral and pay your respects when you have people out there shouting obscenities,” said Herman Griffin Jr., a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The measure requires protesters to stay at least 300 feet away from funerals or memorial services and bars them from using bullhorns. Violators can get up to a year in jail.

The Westboro group has protested in several places in Kentucky, including at the gates of Fort Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne Division. The protesters typically carry signs that read “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “Thank God for IEDs,” a reference to the improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs, used by insurgents in Iraq.

State Rep. Mike Weaver, D-Radcliff, a retired Army colonel, called the protests despicable, and sponsored legislation along with state Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, to keep the protesters at least 300 feet away from funerals, memorial services or burial services.

Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Pollard, a National Guard soldier from Bowling Green, praised the new law, saying it could potentially keep the protesters away from the funeral of one of his friends who was recently killed in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Brock A. Beery, 30, of White House, Tenn., was killed when his armored vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device near Al Habbaniyah, about 80 miles west of Baghdad.

Pollard said he hopes the protesters don’t come to the funeral, but, if they do, he prefers they not be close enough to disrupt the service.

Pollard had attended funeral services targeted by the group last summer. That funeral was for Spc. Michael Ray Hayes of Morgantown, a member of the Kentucky National Guard’s 617th Military Police Company, who was killed in an attack by insurgents near Baghdad.

“I felt like it was really an inappropriate time,” Pollard said. “Their beef is really not about the war. It’s about something totally different.”

Veterans have begun stepping forward to shield military families from the protesters at funerals. One group, the Patriot Guard Riders – mostly veterans and motorcycle club members – show up at military funerals around the country where the Westboro group threatens to boycott.