Before Keith Kimmel died in March, he took one of his pet causes to court: demanding Oklahoma grant him a license plate that read “IM GAY.” Now a gay Indiana youth group is attempting something similar in their own state, but not just with one license plate.
The Indiana Youth Group says it’s twice been denied a request to create a special license plate, something that some 78 other organizations — like those supporting breast cancer awareness, juvenile diabetes research, and the Special Olympics — are afforded. So they’re suing, filing a lawsuit in federal court claiming Indiana’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles uses arbitrary (and unconstitutional) guidelines for deciding which parties get plates.
The group’s lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, claims the BMV uses no clear standards to evaluate plates, instead giving unilateral discretion to the agency. Such discretion, the lawsuit states, runs afoul of the First Amendment.
BMV spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said the process is open and fair to all applicants. Although there is some subjectivity when it comes to deciding whether a group’s request is in the “public interest,” he said, the criteria are clearly laid out. “The whole manual is on our website,” he said. “It’s very explicit as to what the criteria are.” Rosebrough said the Indiana Youth Group was turned down because it failed to provide evidence that its services have a statewide impact and because it planned to use the license plate funds to pay staff salaries. The money, he said, cannot be used for operating expenses.
Byrne said that explanation never reached her, despite several phone calls and conversations with BMV representatives.
Worth noting: Indiana Youth Group isn’t the only organization refused specialty plates. The Marine Corps League, the Indiana Bicycle Coalition, and the Alzheimer’s Association have all been denied. But BMV has dipped its toes in, ahem, “controversial” issues before. In 2006, it approved a plate that read “”Choose Life” from the Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers, which lobbies women to skip abortion and give their children up for adoption instead.
The real fear here, of course, is that Indiana Youth Group is asking a state office to get involved in sexuality, which of course means putting veritable images of a penis in a butt on cars all over the state! There is another option for drivers to declare their support for gays: Buy a Subaru. Or a Rav-4.
How about we take this to the next level?
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GlacierGuy
The plates are tasteful, but yet again a city gets to pick and choose who they let into their little club….but it’s okay to sprout “choose life” plates?! What gives?
CJ
This youth group aside, permitting custom license plates seems like you’re asking for problems. It would seem that any hateful group could promote their own license plates. How does the state determine if a particular message promotes hate? And, if the message on the plate doesn’t specifically promote hate, maybe the group itself advocates hatred? Do you censor plates and groups? How does the state decide which messages and groups are OK? What a legal nightmare.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
The criteria seems pretty evident. If you are a rightwing group and desire a vanity plate, it is approved. Otherwise, it is denied……..
Howeva in this case I am not too sure the denial is a bad thing. I am 110% for Gay youth being out and proud. But am more concerned with their safety. If you have a bumper sticker on your car and you are getting harrased, you can quickly remove it. License plates not so much………
Yellow Bone
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: Agreed. The other groups that were denied seem so much more deserving than “Choose Life” though.
Simon
Indiana license plates are bullshit in general. The *default* plate says “in God we trust,” which I think is reflective of the whole fiasco…
jon
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: Safety? Come on buddy! if you can’t wear who you are on your car it’s not worth being out. You have to be bluntly open at all ages!! Yes some will get hurt, but it’s what we have to do to be equal. Ask Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. O wait you can’t since he did the right thing.
Birdie
@Simon: Actually, the default plate is the state seal, a torch with nineteen stars. But the “In God We Trust” plate is available (along with several others) at no additional fee.
This group should be allowed its plate. There are several others currently available for whom the proceeds benefit organizations only situated in Indianapolis (and are therefore not “statewide,” as the BMV demanded of IYG): Riley Children’s Foundation, Health Foundation of Indianapolis, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. Their reasoning fails at several levels, and I look forward to purchasing an IYG plate in the near future.
Bad Analogy
@jon: I mean, it’s not like he had the option of staying in the closet as black…
Luke
@Birdie: Actually Riley, the Health Foundation, and IMS are all considered state level operations.
IMS due to historical impact on the state. Riley because it’s the closest kids hospital for the greater portion of the state. And the Health Foundation due to partnerships with various organizations.
The license plates are a decent fundraiser. I have a specialty plate for an Indiana state-wide organization (F&AM). There have been reasons given for not giving out the plates to various organizations.
In this case they are not appropriately using the funds per BMV requirements and IYG generally only provides local Indianapolis support. I imagine they want to grow…so perhaps pitching it to help with statewide growth would help.
Alex
See, this is what happens when your choose a shitty font like Jokerman…
declanto
You may be OUT, but your car is parked on the street. It’s an easy target for the H8’ers when you’re not there to defend it. If this happens with any frequency, there go your insurance premiums thru the newly-frescoed ceiling. Such a bore.
declanto
And furthermore, has nobody connected this to the recent arrest of the Indiana BMV chief in a public toilet? Just askin’