Bipartisan bill would honor women vets with license plate

An illustration of the proposed North Carolina women veterans license plate.

A bipartisan bill in the North Carolina House would recognize the women veterans through license plates.

State Rep. Nasif Majeed, a Charlotte Democrat and vice chair of the Military and Veterans Affair Committee, is a co-sponsor of House Bill 427 along with Mecklenburg County colleagues Carla Cunningham and Carolyn Logan of Charlotte. Edward Goodwin, a Republican from Edenton, is also a sponsor. The bill has passed the Transportation Committee and is now before the Finance Committee.

“You’ve got around 90,000 women veterans in North Carolina who have served honorably and faithfully in all the branches of the services,” said Majeed a retired Air Force pilot. “It’s time for them to be recognized. We don’t think there’ll be any opposition. This is apple pie.”

Barbara Summey Marshall, a retired Navy chaplain who lives in Charlotte, is among a network of veteran advocates behind HB 427. Five years ago, Marshall said she noticed in working with veterans from other states that governments recognized women veterans with license plates. She thought it was time for North Carolina to do the same and rallied her peers for support.

“There are a lot of ways that you can honor women veterans, but to make that pretty visible with a women’s veterans license plate was imprinted in my mind,” she said. “So that became like a part of the mission of bringing in women veterans out of invisibility, to the point of being visible in the state in which they reside and pay taxes and raise children and get their [Veterans Affairs] treatment and services in enjoy meals and community.”

While North Carolina is home to 95,000 active military service members and more than 640,000 veterans and eight bases, the plate initiative has slowly gained ground among the people the bill is meant to recognize. The drive also requires getting lawmakers on board.

“I think it’s like a two-prong challenge,” Marshall said. “The women are present, but sometimes women are hesitant to acknowledge that they have served in the military or to acknowledge that they are veterans. Many have had some trials and tribulation during their service and didn’t necessarily leave with a sense of being proud of their service, so it’s a challenge to raise awareness even among the women themselves.”  

Majeed, a B-52 bomber pilot who served during the Vietnam war, said Marshall and supporters of the bill – which includes Marshall’s daughter Maya, an Army vet who served in Afghanistan – pushed lawmakers to keep the idea viable.

“I think it’s a combination of Miss Barbara Marshall’s tenacity to persevere, to get people to sign up for it,” Majeed said. “On the other side, [the bill] was so warmly received. We as veterans recognize their roles and responsibilities [and] on the House side, we think it’s a very good thing.  

“It’s timely because previous history, women have been marginalized, but it’s not that time now. This is a good bill, it recognizes our women veterans and everybody can recognize that in 2023.”  

Said Marshall: “Women veterans have forever served. Maybe not been mentioned or recognized but have but forever served.”

Eleven states recognize by law or proclamation June 12 – the date the federal Women’s Armed Services Integration Act – as Women Veterans Day, including South Carolina. North Carolina veterans’ advocates including Marshall want the Tar Heel State to recognize the day as well as the challenges women face during and after service from sexism in the ranks to disparities in how disabilities are treated.

“My goal and desire is that North Carolina would also recognize 12 June as a national day of honor for women veterans,” she said. “I think there are several other things that could be attached to a license plate and then one of them would be that national date of honor of women veterans and just many other ways to honor their service and sacrifice.”  

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