When a family is shamed because of its name

This appeared the Amherst Daily News Citizen-Record:

When does political correctness supersede common sense? Or personal rights?

Those questions will soon be sorted out in a Nova Scotia court, and while it may not result in any changes to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it could have implications that are farther-reaching than just that one courtroom.

Lorne Grabher of Dartmouth is hoping it will at least result in a favourable verdict for his family. He wants his name back and its honour restored.

For 27 years, the Grabher family name was proudly proclaimed on personalized licence plates. Lorne is proud of his Austrian-German heritage and his son carries on the family tradition in Alberta.

The trouble began in late 2016 when there were two public complaints that the plate’s message was offensive to women. The Nova Scotia Registrar of Motor Vehicles agreed and cancelled the plate, which had been in use for almost a generation.

Grabher, a retired corrections officer, is not advocating assaulting women or supporting sexual misconduct. His name is not a slogan. Grabher said he put the family name on the licence plate decades ago as a gift for his father’s birthday. Grabher is seeking justice in Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court.

Lorne Grabher doesn’t want an apology. He just wants his licence plate.

Though Nova Scotia would be well advised to give him both.