Lawsuit filed against Oklahoma Tax Commission over LGBT license plate

by Rob Howard
Associate Editor

How much money is Dr. John Keefe II willing to spend to get a special license plate supporting the LGBT community? “As much as it takes. I’ve got the money, the time, the education and the determination to do this."

Keefe asked the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC)  last year for a special license plate that said “LGBTALY.” (LGBT Ally – there can only be seven characters on a special license plate in Oklahoma.) The OTC denied the request, saying the LGBTALY is “sexual in nature.”

Dr. Keefe, however, is not one to take No for an answer. He hired attorney Charles Broadway to pursue an appeal of the denial to the OTC. That hearing is scheduled for June 26. Keefe and Broadway have twice made “Open Records Act” requests to the OTC. He asked for the “process, rules and procedures” used to make decisions on special plated, a “list of all approved special plates, and a list of those not approved.”

So far, he has had no response. “It is the law that they respond to these requests,” said Keefe. Because of the failure to respond, Keefe filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court to force the OTC to comply with the law, and provide the information he has requested.

The response of the OTC to Keefe appeal, however, makes it clear that the agency plans to pursue the “sexual in nature” characterization of the nature of the plate. The document asks Keefe to “admit” that the letter combination “LGBT” is an acronym for “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and/or Transsexual,” replacing the actual word, transgender, with transsexual. The first definition in a Google search for LGBT is “LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and along with heterosexual they describe people's sexual orientation or gender identity,” a definition that contains no sexual content.

The request for “admissions” from the OTC cites the definitions for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual [sic] in the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. The definitions chosen use the term “sexually attracted” when describing the nature of those words. In the case of transsexuals, it says “a person who tries to look, dress, and act like a member of the opposite sex; especially: someone who medically changes himself or herself into a member of the opposite sex.”

Keefe says, “They [the OTC] are trying to make LGBTALY something sexual by the definitions they use.”

Other online dictionaries use less sexual terms, for example a definition of lesbian as “A woman whose sexual orientation is to women,” and of gay as “A person whose sexual orientation is to persons of the same sex.” GLAAD for example defines transgender as “An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.”

It would appear from the document that the OTC shopped for a definition that described LGBT in sexual terms, without referring to any definitions that includes the broader definition of sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Asked what he thought about the OTC’s response to his appeal, Keefe said, “It’s a load of crap. It’s driven by fear, and a lack of education.”

Why is this so important to Keefe? He says, “I believe in equality; I don’t care if you’re male or female, black or white, gay or straight, married or single. I believe in fairness and equality for all people.” He cited the discrimination against the LGBT community as being offensive to him, and noted that not so many years ago, “I couldn’t have married my wife, who is Chinese,” because of Oklahoma law banning interracial marriage.

Keefe and Broadway see the issue as not just a denial of a special license plate for a trivial reason. Keefe says, “This is a civil rights issue, a freedom of speech issue,” and vows to take the case to the US Supreme Court, if necessary.

Keefe has an online petition that will be delivered at the OTC’s hearing. Supporters who wish to support his cause can sign the petition at: http://tinyurl.com/qc5n4hn.

The Gayly – May 11, 2015 @ 3:15pm.
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