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While New York state was whipped into a frenzy being just one vote shy of passing the Marriage Equality Act, the state of Texas finds itself in a similar limbo over whether or not to approve a confederate flag license plate, the Houston Chronicle reports. The Department of Motor Vehicles is just one vote short of granting approval of the specialty plate to the local division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Just how controversial is the confederate flag? At times it's hard to tell, and this latest stalemate has renewed the debate. On one hand, the DMV posted a mock plate with the flag in March, and comments were "overwhelmingly positive," according to the Chronicle: 186 in favor, 3 against. The Sons of Confederate Veterans have won approval of the plate in nine other states, including Georgia, Maryland, and Tennessee. They are seeking approval in more states including Florida, where the group sued the state after the legislature rejected its request. In March, a federal judge ruled that the state's license plate law was unconstitutional because it engages in "viewpoint discrimination." And the founder of an organization to recover reparations for slavery even told the Daily Mail that he would not oppose the license plates. "I don't see how a flag hurts someone," he said.