Alabama Now Says ‘NOHOMO’ Is A No-No

After a photo of a license plate with an anti-gay slur was published the State of Alabama has taken action.

On Monday, Scott Johnston was walking in an Atlanta parking lot when a black Mustang license plate caught his eye. “N0H0M0” it read. He snapped a photo, sent it to his friend Paul Fulton, who tweeted it to The New Civil Rights Movement, ThinkProgress, and an Alabama newspaper. 

After verifying the source, The New Civil Rights Movement published an article, “Alabama Says ‘NOHOMO’ Is A-OK.” Other media outlets followed. 

ThinkProgress reached out to the Alabama Department of Revenue, which is in charge of license plates for the state. They “informed ThinkProgress that a process is in place to monitor what plates are banned,” and “confirmed that the state does have a review and recall process if someone complains about a license plate.”

The State of Alabama is now recalling the license plate.

“The state prohibits personalized tags with profane or vulgar messages, Alabama Department of Revenue spokeswoman Amanda Collier said,” the AP explains.

The three-member review panel looks at about 4,000 requests a month for personalized plates, and this was a case of human error, Collier said.

Collier said the screening panel uses a dictionary with the latest slang and other tools to scrutinize tag requests, and a recall is rare. Department officials could not remember the last time it happened.

“No homo” is widely considered an anti-gay slur. 

“In 2013, the NBA fined Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert $75,000 for using the same slur and cursing at a news conference,” the AP notes.

An excellent example of how just a few individuals using social media can change things for the better. Congratulations, Scott and Paul.

 

Image by Scott Johnston

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story, based on news reports, identified the car as a Camaro. Readers adamantly disagreed, it is a Mustang. Thank you for your comments.