The Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) came under fire again on Saturday by gay rights groups for banning several letter combinations on vehicle license plates that it deemed to be sensitive or obscene, in particular the word “GAY.”
The controversy dates back to 2012, when the government decided to add an extra letter of the Roman alphabet to the two on license plates due to the increasing number of vehicles in the nation.
However, at the same time, it blacklisted 24 letter combinations due to their perceived controversial nature, including “MAD,” “NUN,” “SEX,” “SLY,” “BAD,” “GAY,” “ASS,” “BUM,” “BRA,” “CRY,” “CAT,” “PUP,” “ANT” and “APE.”
The Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association and other rights groups on Saturday called on the government to drop the blacklist.
Association member Juan Mei-ying (阮美贏) said although gender-related terms such as “SEX,” “BRA” and “GAY” might appear sensitive to some, it makes no sense for the directorate to ban them, because that only helps give a negative connotation to these words.
Some people might prefer to have those letter combinations on their license plates, Juan said.
Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan head Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) questioned why words such as “CAT” and “CRY” are on the blacklist.
In a recent Facebook post, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Kao Hung-an (高虹安) criticized considering “CAT,” “PUP,” “ANT” and “APE” offensive.
DGH Director-General Hsu Cheng-chang (許鉦漳) said the agency would address the issue after collecting more opinions from members of the public.
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