Brody's Notes... Gay Youth Group First In Nation To Get Specialty Auto Licence Plates

Courtesy of the Indiana State Bureau Of Motor Vehicles

By Brody Levesque | INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- Indiana is the first state in the nation to offer specialty automobile license plates promoting awareness of gay youth groups. The Indianapolis based Indiana Youth Group helps children in the gay, lesbian and transgender community. Volunteers travel throughout the state providing support for often-troubled adolescents.

The new plates will be available beginning in February throughout the state and feature six hands in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, which is the logo of the Indiana Youth Group.

The Indianapolis-based youth organization said it was denied a request for a specialty plate twice. The specialty plate costs an additional $40 with $25 directly benefiting the group which provides training for schools and service agencies and works to promote tolerance.
The group applied for a specialty license plate in 2008 and was denied without being given a reason, according to Mary Byrne, Executive Director of the group.
When she re-applied last year, Byrne said she was informed by phone that the BMV didn’t feel her organization was statewide.
The group accused the BMV of lacking clear standards to evaluate plates and violating the First Amendment by using unilateral discretion in ruling on applications.
But BMV spokesman Dennis 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.

Indiana’s American Civil Liberties Union had sued the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles in September after the Indian Youth Group’s request for the plate was twice denied.

The Indiana Youth Group said after the lawsuit was dismissed in January 2010 that they would apply for the new plate a third time, which was approved last month by the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Micah Clark, Executive Director of the American Family Association of Indiana, reacted to the news telling a christian news website Tuesday:

"You have to question what the BMV was thinking when they approved a license plate for a group which recruits teens into the homosexual lifestyle. Since health risks do not seem to matter, what is to prevent a cigar club from now getting a license plate from the BMV?"

"State agencies should be neutral in the politically charged culture war especially the promotion of homosexuality among minors. It is very disappointing that Indiana is the first state in the nation to have a license plate celebrating youth involved in homosexual behaviors," said Clark.

Bil Browning, longtime Indiana LGBTQ Equality Rights activist, and founder of The Bilerico Project LGBTQ activist website told LGBTQNation Tuesday:

"I'm not surprised to see that Micah Clark is up to his old tricks. Mr. Clark espouses his far-right views on LGBT rights all across Indiana, but his organization seems to do little else. Indiana Youth Group, on the other hand, spends its time helping suicidal youth and college planning. Since Mr. Clark is usually an advocate of smaller government, I'm shocked to read that he thinks the Indiana state legislature should spend it's time approving a not-for-profit youth organization's specialty license plate.

Many universities, sports teams and not-for-profits are regularly issued speciality plates if they meet the required guidelines. Surely the legislature shouldn't waste time approving the "Columbus Sunrise Rotary Club" plate, the "Clark-Floyd Counties Convention and Tourism Bureau" plate, and the "National Wild Turkey Federation" license plate - all of which got their plates the same way that IYG did."

While Mr. Clark calls for the state to remain "neutral in the politically charged culture war" that his brand of extremist Christianity has attempted to wage, his previous advocacy for the "In God We Trust" license plate should be remembered. In Mr. Clark's world, "neutral" means "do what I want." As much as Mr. Clark may wish it so, Indiana state government doesn't revolve around him, his religion, or his puritanical views on sexuality. They are, instead, neutral; Mr. Clark is not."