The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles told a Lakewood man he can't say "GAY" on his vanity license plate and rejected a request from a Strongsville man to say "MUSLIM" on his plate, according to a federal lawsuit filed Sept. 9.

The BMV automatically rejected the plate requests as messages would violate state guidelines. That prompted a lawsuit that claims the rules violate free speech rights.

This is the second recent lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of BMV vanity plate guidelines . Both lawsuits were brought by Cleveland attorney Brian Bardwell.

The Ohio BMV prohibits word and letter combinations that are profane , sexually explicit, advocate lawlessness or could provoke a violent response. The criteria stemmed from a 2003 settlement with Anthony Zucco, who sued the state aft

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