Maine vegan Pete Starostecki tells the AP he’s disappointed after the state Department of Motor vehicles deemed his “LUVTOFU” vanity license plate inappropriate and ordered it returned, even though Starostecki has several pro-tofu stickers on his car making his intent unmistakable.
“It’s my protest against eating meat and animal products,” Starostecki said after the DMV rejected his appeal. In 2015 state officials stopped caring what people put on their vanity plates, leading to an explosion of what apparently were literally tags such as “FUCKSNOW,” “FUCKH8RS,” and “FUCKALS” (as in “Fuck Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”). So the Maine legislature decided to hit the brakes and ordered the DMV to reinstitute a review process for plates this year, which is why innocent and well-intentioned vegans like Starostecki can’t have nice things.