Maine vegan’s license plate taken away in state crackdown

One vegan from Maine has got major beef with the state’s new system for approving vanity license plates.

Maine vegan Peter Starostecki was forced to forfeit his “LUVTOFU” plate as a result of the state cracking down on tags deemed inappropriate.

For several years the state had allowed motorists to customize their plates with almost any combination of letters and numbers — including combinations that other states would ban.

Maine said that Starostecki’s “LUVTOFU” plate could have been seen as a sexual reference instead of a declaration of his adoration of the popular plant-based protein.

The “LUVTOFU” plates were one of 274 in total banned by the state of Maine this year. The state has rejected all appeals thus far, including one by Starostecki.

“It’s my protest against eating meat and animal products,” Starostecki said after a zoom session with a hearing examiner for the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Heather Libby and her best friend were forced to give up their matching license plates that include a word for a female dog when their appeals were rejected.

“People are so sensitive nowadays,” Libby said. “I just think it’s foolish.”

Maine had ended the review process for vanity plates in 2015, giving residents the freedom to fill their plates with all sorts of inappropriate phrases and profanity.

More recently, the Maine Legislature decided it had enough of the uncensored plates and directed the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to reestablish a system for vetting the state’s 120,000 vanity license plates.

The new system bans derogatory references to age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion or disability. It also bans language that incites violence or is considered obscene.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said that while she backs freedom of expression, motorists should use bumper stickers, not state-issued license plates to express themselves.

“We have a public interest in keeping phrases and words that are profane or may incite violence off the roadways,” she said.

Both Starostecki and Libby were offered new vanity plates to replace their revoked tags. While Starostecki could have taken “V3GAN,” he opted for one with numbers and letters randomly selected by the state.

Meanwhile, Libby decided on a license plate in honor of her dog Zeus.

“That could be offensive to someone because it’s a Greek god,” she quipped. “But I hope not.”

With Post wires.