Anti-porn group seeks license plate

By Bill Estep

An anti-pornography group based in Louisville has renewed its effort to create an "In God We Trust" license plate in Kentucky.

Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana (ROCK) started an online drive this week to gather names on a petition supporting its application for a state specialty plate with the motto.

ROCK said in its application that it would use the money from sales of the plate to raise awareness about harm caused by pornography and the sex industry and to help people hurt or victimized by porn, sexual predators and the sex business, such as women who want to quit stripping and children targeted by online molesters.

ROCK operates a program called Stepping Out Ministries to help women trying to leave the sex business, as well as their children, but hasn't had enough money to fully meet the need, said MaryAnn Gramig, research and policy coordinator for ROCK.

"The sooner the commonwealth approves this," Gramig said of the group's application, "the sooner funding becomes available to reach some of the most vulnerable and hurting citizens."

If approved, the plate would cost $34, but buyers could volunteer to add $10 that would go to ROCK, said David Devers, a spokesman for the Transportation Cabinet.

The group could get a significant amount of money.

Indiana has sold more than 1.6 million "In God We Trust" plates since January 2007. The Hoosier State has a larger population and does not charge extra for the plate, but it's not hard to imagine many Kentucky drivers would want a license plate with a religious message, and that a good number would donate to ROCK.

Nearly 400 people signed the online petition in the first 48 hours, Gramig said.

Interest in creating an "In God We Trust" plate here mirrors a trend. Several other states have approved such plates.

ROCK's proposal for an "In God We Trust" plate, if approved, would not amount to an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion because it would be a specialty plate and the donation would be voluntary, said Michael Aldridge, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky.

"It's really a free speech issue," he said.

ROCK's application has some hurdles to cross after a failed effort by state lawmakers to approve an "In God We Trust" plate in the session that ended this month.

That effort created some controversy.

ROCK applied to the Transportation Cabinet to sponsor a specialty plate before state Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence, filed a bill to create a plate with same motto, and the two essentially were in competition.

If Gooch's bill had passed, the money would have gone to veterans' programs.

But the Transportation Cabinet did not decide whether to approve ROCK's plate request. Instead, an official told the group the cabinet would defer to the legislative proposal.

The House passed the bill 98-0, but did not get a vote in the full Senate.

Now, ROCK wants its application approved.

It's not clear, however, whether the group needs to submit a new application if the earlier one is still good, said Chuck Wolfe, a spokesman for the cabinet.

The competing proposals for an "In God We Trust" plate created a situation the cabinet hadn't faced before.

Transportation Secretary Joe Prather has asked officials in the agency to research the issue, including whether ROCK should submit a new application.

ROCK thinks its application is still good, Gramig said.