Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) violated free speech rights by denying a driver a license plate reading “GAY,” a federal judge ruled last Thursday. While the BMV said the plate was “inappropriate/invalid,” it reportedly allowed plates that said “NO GAYS,” “NO HOMOS” and “NO F**S.”

Plaintiff William Saki said he applied for a “GAY” license plate before October 11, 2024 — National Coming Out Day — to “express a central part of his identity,” The Buckeye Flame reported. The BMV denied that application and his applications for “QUEER” and “HOMO”, as well as another application for “LESBIAN”.

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Saki’s lawsuit stated that those words didn’t violate any of the BMV’s guidelines for special license plates. However, he said that the BMV did allow him to register plates reading, “STR8″, STR8 PWR”, “NO GAYS”, “NO HOMOS”, and “NO F**S”.

Saki also tried applying for a plate expressing another part of his identity, “MUSLIM”. However, the BMV reportedly rejected that one too, even though it accepted applications for “ATHEIST”, “BAPTIST”, “SIKH”, and “HINDU”

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Saki and another plaintiff, Cyrus Mahdavi, filed a lawsuit against Ohio’s Department of Public Safety and the BMV last September.

However, in a September 11 case dismissal, Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division wrote that “representatives of the BMV conceded that the BMV had erred in rejecting the vanity plates.” BMV representatives agreed that they would approve any of the 62,000 forbidden words in their database that don’t meet the standard of being “offensive, disparaging or socially insensitive.” Additionally, the BMV said it would provide information for drivers to appeal any improperly rejected license plates.

Saki’s lawyer Brian D. Bardwell said in a statement, “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. 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.”

In July, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) allowed several anti-LGBTQ+ laws to go into effect.

In a statement, Saki told the aforementioned publication, “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.”

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