Ohio resident William Saki recently attached a license plate reading GAY to his Honda sedan after winning his lawsuit against Ohios Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) for unfairly blocking him from getting it. The BMV had said that the license plate was inappropriate, but Saki says hes proud of his new plates.Gay. Its who I am. Its a fact and its who I am and Im proud of it. I notice people pointing and taking photos when I drive by it puts a smile on my face, I like it, Saki told WEWS-TV, adding that he sued the BMV because, Thats my free speech theyre messing with. Related Gay man wins the right to own a license plate that says QUEER In September, a federal judge ruled that the BMV violated Sakis free speech rights by denying his license plate applications for GAY, QUEER, and HOMO even though the bureau allowed him to apply for license plates reading, STR8, STR8 PWR, NO GAYS, NO HOMOS, and NO F**S.The BMV also rejected an application for license plates reading MUSLIM, though it accepted applications for ATHEIST, BAPTIST, SIKH, and HINDU. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today First Amendment attorney Brian Bardwell took on Sakis case, saying that the BMV had inconsistent guidelines for rejecting plates.The guidelines were very squishy, I think we could say, Bardwell said. Somebody wanted Jack Daniels abbreviated, and they allowed that, but they wouldnt allow Jim Beam. Somebody wanted Zinfandel, and thats fine, but you couldnt have Cabernet.In aSeptember 11 case dismissal, Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division wrote that representatives of the BMV conceded that the BMV had erred in rejecting the vanity plates. BMV representatives agreed that they would approve any of the 62,000 forbidden words in their database that dont meet the standard of being offensive, disparaging, or socially insensitive. Additionally, the BMV said it would provide information for drivers to appeal any improperly rejected license plates.WEWS-TV reached out to the BMV for comment, but the bureau declined to comment. The stations reporter noted that the bureau is currently involved in a separate lawsuit over its rejection of a license plate reading F46 LGB, which the bureau says is potentially offensive.Still smiling about his GAY license plate, Saki told the news station, Ill always remember this plate.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.