COURT: You can now say “GAY” on your Ohio license plate

A federal judge has ruled in favor of an Ohio man seeking to have the word “GAY” in his license plate. 

William Saki applied for a license plate reading “GAY” through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) in advance of National Coming Out Day – October 11 – to “express a central part of his identity.” 

The plate was immediately rejected as “Inappropriate/Invalid.”

He then attempted to register a series of other plates, including ones reading “QUEER” and  “HOMO”. 

Those plates were rejected. 

In the court filing, Saki argued that his proposed plates did not violate any of the BMV’s special plate screening guidelines. 

Further, when he attempted to register plates reading, “NO GAYS,” “NO HOMOS” and “NO FAGS”, all of them were listed as available.

“LESBIAN” was rejected. “STR8” was not. 

“Mr. Saki –- like everyone else in this country – has a First Amendment right to free speech. He’s out, he’s proud, and [Ohio] Governor DeWine can’t shove him back in the closet just because he’s made a political career out of harassing gay people,” said Brian D. Bardwell, a First Amendment lawyer representing Mr. Saki, before the case was heard.

Joint suit

Saki filed suit with another Ohioan, Cyrus Mahdavi, against the BMV and the Ohio Department of Public Safety. 

Mahdavi also attempted to register a plate to express a central part of his identity: “MUSLIM”. 

That plate, too, was immediately rejected as “Inappropriate/Invalid.”

Searches through the BMV site reveal that license plates may be issued for “ATHEIST”, “BAPTIST”, “SIKH” and “HINDU”, but “JEW” is automatically rejected.

GAY victory

The case was heard on Thursday in the United States District Court Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division. Judge Dan Aaron Polster dismissed the case after “representatives of the BMV conceded that the BMV had erred in rejecting the vanity plates.”

Further, the BMV agreed to unlock any of the 62,000 forbidden words in their database that do not meet the standard of being “offensive, disparaging or socially insensitive” and to provide instructions on its website for applicants who believe they have been improperly rejected. 

“Judge Polster saw right through the BMV’s attempts to silence drivers it doesn’t agree with and ordered them to get back in line with the First Amendment,” said Bardwell in a statement. “We’re incredibly grateful that he was able to reach a quick decision reaffirming Mr. Saki’s inalienable right to tell the truth about who he is, even when the governor doesn’t approve. We’re excited to see the BMV pull its act together, and we’ll be watching to make sure it doesn’t stray from the judge’s orders.”

Saki was elated with the decision.

“We got lucky with a judge who cut straight to the real question: Are gay Ohioans free to come out and live our lives without the government forcing us back into the closet? Thankfully, our judge knew the right answer and ordered the BMV to let me say who I am,” Mr. Saki told The Buckeye Flame in a statement, adding insouciantly: “I can’t wait for my ‘GAY’ license plate to come, but it’s going to be hard waiting for my boyfriend to mount it on my rear end and screw it all the way in.” 🔥

IGNITE ACTION

• Check the availability of your gay license plate idea by visiting the BMV’s site here.