NOHOMO plate Paul Fulton.JPG

State of Alabama says "NOHOMO" license was plate issued in error and will be recalled. (Contributed photo/Paul Fulton)

You may have seen the photo circulating on social media the last few days, chalking the image up to another online hoax.

Turns out, its' not.

On Monday, Twitter user Paul Fulton Jr. posted a photo of a black Mustang with an Alabama license plate that says "NOHOMO." Fulton said the photo was taken in a parking lot in an Atlanta suburb but some on social media questioned if it had been altered.

However, Amanda Collier, spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Revenue, confirmed the tag saying "NOHOMO" does exist and was approved by mistake.

"By law, the issuance of motor vehicle registrations is not centralized and must be processed at the county level. However, the Motor Vehicle Division of the Alabama Department of Revenue does hold the authority to approve personalized messages on license plates," she said.

How the tag buying system is supposed to work

The Alabama Department of Revenue is supposed to reject license plates that refer to sex, drugs, violence, race, body parts or other "offensive" subjects. Using a zero instead of an "O" or a 5 instead of an "S" won't fly either, they told AL.com last year.

When a person buys a tag, the county employee enters the desired message into its system. Those on the banned list are supposed to be automatically rejected, but that didn't happen here.

So how does a tag that says homophobic - or any obscene statement - get approved? Collier said sometimes the offensive tags slip by in the more than 4,000 new personalized messages the department approves every month.

"Unfortunately, human error allowed this particular message to be approved. Actions are being taken to recall the license plate in question. The taxpayer will be provided with the appeal rights" provided under Alabama law, she said.

In Alabama, that will mean an appeal to the Administrative Law Division of the Department of Revenue, if the tag owner wants to take it that far.

Free speech?

Not everyone thinks the NOHOMO tag should be recalled, however. Some social media commenters said the phrase was nothing more than the exercise of free speech. We have to ask: Do you agree? Is NOHOMO - or any other license plate - covered under free speech?