Woman sues BMV for rejecting "BE GODS" plate

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Nov 18, 2008 at 6:29 PM EST

Story Updated: Nov 18, 2008 at 6:29 PM EST

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A woman is suing the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles for refusing to issue a personalized license plate with the words "BE GODS."

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, the same day the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the state's "In God We Trust" license plate. However, the BMV prohibits vanity plates referring to race, religion, deity, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or political party or affiliation.

"Christians shouldn't be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs," said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing plaintiff Elizabeth Ferris of Cambridge City. "The Bureau of Motor Vehicles is speaking out of both sides of its mouth when it sells license plates with the word God but then rejects a citizen's personalized plate that uses the same word."

Ferris said her plate is intended to be read as "Be God's," a message she considers central to her life. She said she had that on her license plate for eight or nine years but missed the renewal deadline in October 2007, and the BMV later rejected it as "inappropriate due to form or content."

"I am very sensitive to what proselytizing is," she said. "I'm not about forcing my beliefs on other people. The laws that protect my freedom to express myself are the same as those that protect others who have opinions with which I disagree."

BMV spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said the agency's attorneys are reviewing the suit.

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