movieguy Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Conservative Utah To Allow Gay-Positive License Plates by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: July 27, 2005 2:00 pm ET (Salt Lake City, Utah) The Utah State Tax Commission has decided to approve three personalized license plates with gay-positive messages after earlier denying them. The decision is a first for the commission, which, until this decision, had never approved a personalized plate containing the word "gay." In December 2004, Elizabeth Solomon applied for three personalized license plates: "GAY WE GO," "GAYS R OK," and "GAY RYTS." The Commission approved the "GAY WE GO" plate but denied the application for the latter two plates. The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah appealed the denial on behalf of Solomon. "I have kids who are gay and I wanted these plates so that I could publicly express support for my children," said Solomon. ACLU staff attorney Margaret Plane lauded the reversal of the commission's original ruling. "Too often, public officials are scared by the word 'gay' and they refuse to recognize that gays and lesbians are an increasingly public and positive part of our communities," said Plane. "The commission rightly recognized that their own rules don't allow them to censor gay-positive messages like Mrs. Solomon's." Solomon will now be able to put any one of the personalized license plates on the cars she owns. "I want other drivers to read my plates and think about their gay relatives, neighbors, and peers; to quote my favorite button, 'Someone you care about is lesbian or gay,'" she said. A result of the decision is that personalized plates with gay-positive messages are now clearly permissible, as long as the requested plates do not violate any statutory or regulatory restrictions. ©365Gay.com 2005 links Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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