ST. PAUL  (AP) - Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers is apologizing for a prayer in his chamber by a central Minnesota pastor who previously made controversial remarks about gay people.

Zellers spoke from the House floor Friday which is rare for the speaker. The Maple Grove Republican apologized to his colleagues and said he personally denounced Bradlee Dean, the pastor who gave the prayer.

Dean's prayer made numerous references to Jesus Christ in violation of House custom. In an interview last year, Dean called homosexuals predators and molesters. He is pastor at an Annandale evangelical ministry known as "You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International."

The prayer came on a day when the House may take up a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Minnesota. After Dean's prayer, Zellers asked the regular House chaplain to say another prayer.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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