Culture

California Man Wins Right to “QUEER” License Plate


 

If you live in California and ever wanted to get a “BIG HOMO” vanity plate, now is your chance.

Last week, a U.S. district court ruled that the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ prohibition on speech which “may be considered insulting, degrading, or expressing contempt for a specific group or person” cannot be used to prevent a resident from receiving a personalized license plate reading “QUEER.” The request was made by Amrit Kohli, an Oakland-based musician who runs Queer Folks Records.

In his Tuesday ruling, Judge Jon Tigar noted that Kohli selected the term — a hateful slur which has been widely reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community — “to drain its denigrating force.”

“The DMV’s determination that QUEER ‘may be considered insulting, degrading or expressing contempt for a specific group or person,’ and thus ‘may be considered offensive’ reflects both the assessment of a viewpoint — an assessment that may or may not be correct, depending on the context — and the regulation’s effect of disfavouring ideas that offend,” he wrote in an opinion for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Tigar further referred to the California DMV’s position as “viewpoint discrimination” but claimed that banning hate speech does not violate the constitution.

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While many people do associate the word “queer” as a synonym for “strange” and inextricable from homophobia, Kohli explained that it has a great deal of symbolic meaning to him as an LGBTQ+ person. Many have long reappropriate the epithet as an umbrella term for a diverse community.

“As someone who identifies as queer, it’s something I hold dear to my heart and really believe in,” Kohli said in an interview with the ABC news affiliate WCIV earlier this year. “Now at this time in not only history, but in my life to be able to reclaim that word and make it part of our community and a positive part of our community is really empowering for us.”

Kohli was joined in the lawsuit by four other plaintiffs whose personalized license plate applications were rejected on various grounds. Examples include a music fan who was not allowed to adorn their automobile with the word “SLAAYRR,” referencing the 80s thrash metal band of similar name, and a veteran who wanted an “OGWOOLF” plate to reference his military nickname. The DMV thought the latter was a gang reference, according to the Associated Press.

It was not reported whether the California DMV will be required to pay the plaintiffs’ legal fees as a condition of the ruling. The department is allegedly reviewing the decision and may opt to appeal.

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