Gamer’s 69PWNDU vanity license plate is ‘offensive,’ Tennessee says. Now she’s suing

More than 10 years ago, Leah Gilliam got a vanity license plate that her lawyer says reflects a love of astronomy and gaming.

The state of Tennessee disagrees.

Officials with the state Department of Revenue revoked Gilliam’s vanity plate in May, calling the contents “offensive,” according to state court documents.

The license plate reads “69PWNDU,” which Gilliam said combines the year of the moon landing with a popular gaming term.

Gilliam, who lives in Nashville, is suing to get it back. In a complaint filed in chancery court on Monday, her lawyer said Tennessee officials discriminated against her in violation of the U.S. Constitution by restraining her free speech.

“Ms. Gilliam’s harmless vanity plate is transparently protected by the First Amendment, and the only illegality involved is the Tennessee Department of Revenue’s decision to violate her First Amendment rights,” said Daniel A. Horwitz of Horwitz Law PLLC, who is representing Gilliam.

The lawsuit names the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the state Attorney General as defendants.

A spokesperson for the state agency declined to comment in a statement to McClatchy News on Thursday, except to cite state law.

“Generally, Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-4-210(d)(2) prohibits the Tennessee Department of Revenue from issuing a personalized license plate that ‘may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency or that are misleading,’” the spokesperson said. “Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-5-117 authorizes the revocation of a motor vehicle registration plate that was erroneously issued contrary to the law.”

According to Monday’s lawsuit, Gilliam has had the vanity plate “69PWNDU” for over a decade.

Gilliam described herself in court filings as “an astronomy buff and a gamer.” Her attorney said the vanity plate is a combination of those interests — the “69” is short for 1969, the year of the moon landing, and “pwndu” is gamer slang for “pawned you,” meaning to “totally defeat or dominate, especially in a video or computer game,” the lawsuit states.

“To Ms. Gilliam’s knowledge, her vanity plate has never caused anyone harm,” her attorney said in the complaint. “To the contrary, members of the public enjoy seeing it displayed.”

But in a letter dated May 25, the Department of Revenue told Gilliam the plate was “offensive” and that she could not renew her vehicle registration until it was returned. The letter cited state statutes that give officials the right to revoke vanity plates “deemed offensive to good taste or decency.”

Gilliam’s attorney said she was threatened with a fine and jail time if she didn’t comply.

He said the statutes under which Gilliam’s vanity plate were revoked are unconstitutional in that they violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee a right to free speech and equal protection under the law.

The state statutes are also unconstitutionally vague, according to the lawsuit.

Gilliam’s lawyer asked for both a temporary and permanent injunction preventing the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Revenue from enforcing those statutes.

He also requested damages of $1 per day that Gilliam hasn’t been allowed to display her vanity plate.