A state lawmaker says he plans to repeal a century-old Oklahoma law that makes blasphemy a crime.

Edmond Republican Rep. Randy Grau says he was prompted in part by the violent protests that erupted after the release of an anti-Islamic film on the internet.

Grau says that while he doesn't support the disparagement of another's religious views, he believes it's necessary to stand up for free speech “even when it is unpopular to do so.”

The 1910 Oklahoma law makes it a misdemeanor to say or print words that case “profane ridicule upon God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Scriptures or the Christian or any other religion.”