This is a victory for rainbow wig men everywhere!
Posted on 05/18/2005 9:15:50 AM PDT by goodnesswins
State says ‘JOHN3:16’ plate’s OK
STEVE MAYNARD; The News Tribune Last updated: May 18th, 2005 07:42 AM
BRUCE KELLMAN/THE NEWS TRIBUNE FILE
University Place resident Jane Milhans gets to keep the JOHN3:16 vanity license plate she’s had on her cars since 1984. A complainant unsuccessfully urged the state to revoke the plate because of its religious meaning.
After a public outcry, University Place resident Jane Milhans will be able to keep her vanity license plate “JOHN3:16.” A Spanaway woman complained she was offended by the plate, prompting a state review. After callers in support of Milhans inundated radio talk shows and the Department of Licensing, a review committee expedited her case and dismissed the complaint Tuesday.
“They did?” Milhans said Tuesday. “Wow. That’s incredible. … I would have been devastated to lose this plate.”
The Department of Licensing’s review committee met early because of the intense public interest, said department spokesman Brad Benfield.
“The plate is not offensive under our rules and was never in danger of being canceled,” licensing director Liz Luce said in a statement. “This was just a routine, procedural review required by policy.”
However, Benfield said the licensing department has now changed its policy so that a single complaint no longer triggers an automatic review by a committee.
Milhans has had the vanity plate for 21 years.
Two weeks ago, Milhans was shocked to read in a letter the Department of Licensing was reviewing her plate because of a complaint. No one had ever complained before, she said.
“The Scripture actually references love,” Milhans said. “I thought that would be a positive message and brighten someone’s day.”
In her e-mail complaint to the licensing department, the Spanaway woman wrote, “I was offended that I have to be prayed over by a license plate.”
“What happened to keeping church and state separate?” said the woman, who refused to comment for this story. She requested her name not be used because the state mistakenly told her the complaint would be confidential, and then retracted that statement.
John 3:16, one of the most famous verses in the Bible, reads: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Milhans, 47, has the plate on her metallic blue BMW 525i. It’s her third car since 1984 to have a plate with “JOHN3:16.” Her seven-digit vanity plate originally read “JOHN316.” She painted on a blue colon to make the verse reference understandable.
Milhans works as a vice president for U.S. Bank in Tacoma and is the former Pierce County Republican Party chairwoman. She originally had until May 29 to respond to the complaint. Milhans said she was relieved by the decision, but disappointed she didn’t get to make her case.
A committee of a half-dozen people – from the Department of Licensing, the Washington State Patrol and a county auditor’s office – reviewed the complaint over the phone Tuesday.
They used guidelines barring vanity plates that are “offensive to good taste and decency,” “blasphemous,” “vulgar, profane or sexually suggestive in nature,” or “a racial, ethnic, lifestyle or gender slur.” The guidelines don’t mention religion. The issue of separation of church and state would be a matter for courts to decide, Benfield said.
In Vermont, Shawn Byrne of Rutland is suing the state after it rejected his bid for a “JOHN316” vanity plate. State attorneys say the plate would amount to a state endorsement of religion, The Associated Press reported.
Vanity plate owners in Washington pay an additional $30 a year to the Department of Licensing. The money goes to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the state Motor Vehicle Fund.
In the past year and a half, complaints prompted reviews of 16 vanity plates out of 84,454 in the state, Benfield said. Four containing at least one initial for a sexual term were canceled, he said.
Milhans said she believes freedom of speech gives her the right to express her Christian beliefs with her license plate. After news of the complaint became fodder for radio talk shows, dozens of people phoned, e-mailed and stopped her in stores and on the street to say they’re on her side. Hundreds of people called the licensing department in support of Milhans, Benfield said.
“I’m not offending people now,” Milhans said. “I’m really happy about that.”
FIVE PLATES THAT COULDN’T BE KILLED
Here are some other vanity license plates that the Department of Licensing permitted to remain after complaints:
UDORK: A complainant said it was rude.
BCHRWFE: Someone complained it was about spousal abuse. The plate turned out to belong to a butcher’s wife.
AMXTC: Someone thought it was a reference to the drug Ecstasy. The plate referred to the joy of owning a classic car called an AMX.
STROKIN: A complainant thought the message was sexual, but the plate referred to a Ford Power Stroke diesel truck.
SEXTY7: Someone thought the plate was racy, but it was allowed because it was used on a classic 1967 car.
Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647 steve.maynard@thenewstribune.com
This is a victory for rainbow wig men everywhere!
We have a world of fops and metrosexuals who are "offended" by anything that they simply do not like.
TOO FRIGGIN BAD. I am personally offended by digusting, gyrating public displays on beaches, belly buttons in full view showing ugly rings, pierced eyebrows, lips, tongues, bad language from little kids, and intolerant people BUT I ain't throwing any hissy fits.
The gospel is an offence, by the way.
Another in a long line of minority rule actions.
A win for the good guys! :-)
Irony: Filing a complaint about a license plate referring merely to the citation of John 3:16, thereby ensuring that newspapers all over the country print out the complete text of the passage.
Say what you want, but the Lord's got a sense of humor. :-)
It's a tough way to run a government, but its the only choice withe the Democrats in control via election fraud in the last November.
Lawsuit to follow.
In my state I tried to get SNAFU put on my plate but was told that that plate was in use alredy.
LOL....how right you are!!!
Absolute proof that political correctness and secular humanism have taken over. This was not a story in 1984. It offended NO ONE in 1984.
Just what is it about Christ do these people find offensive? Why do they fear Him?
In Our 40s?
precisely.
This is more of the same old crap, the "Right to Not Be Offended". Which amendment is that again??
Thank goodness that sanity won out in this situation..it's all too rare these days but it appears that SOME people still have a dose of common sense.
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