ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997 TAG: 9704230072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The two women said they are considering a court challenge. In the meantime, however, they have applied for a different plate: ``LESBIAN.''
For nearly two years, Alice Deighan and her lesbian lover drove their Jeep Cherokee bearing the license tag ``2 DYKES'' with few problems.
Once, someone shouted obscenities at the two women, and Deighan received a hate letter at work. But this month, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles canceled the plate after a motorist complained.
The women received a form letter saying ``this license plate was issued to you in error because it can be interpreted in a way which would make it obscene, profane or vulgar.''
Deighan, 34, and Scout, her 31-year-old partner who changed her legal name to the single word, disagree.
``It's not the word that was offensive,'' Deighan, who works at the Environmental Protection Agency, said Monday. ``Someone is offended by lesbians.''
``What they are objecting to is us proclaiming that we are lesbians,'' said Scout, a consultant for nonprofit groups that work with AIDS patients.
Rhonda Buckner, president of the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, said the problem isn't the word but how it's used.
``If I use the word `dyke,' I don't mean it derogatorily,'' she said. ``If I'm on the street and someone calls me a dyke, I'm offended. If those two women want that on their car, they are not being offensive to themselves.''
But Cathy Renna, a spokeswoman for the Washington office of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said it's a complex issue without a right or wrong answer.
``I can understand the [DMV's] motivation behind the decision,'' she said. ``I don't totally agree with it, but I understand it.''
``License plate issuance is not an exact science,'' acknowledged DMV spokeswoman Jeanne Chenault.
But she said a word committee of about a dozen DMV employees who scrutinize potentially offensive tags agreed that the plate could be viewed as ``socially disparaging or insensitive.''
``Who are we insulting, ourselves?'' Deighan asked. ``... It's weird for people who aren't in the group to decide what is offensive.''
The two women said they are considering a court challenge. In the meantime, however, they have applied for a different plate: ``LESBIAN.''
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB