Tuesday, June 17, 2014

In South Carolina: A teen told to take off make-up for Driver’s License photo because “That’s Not The Way A Boy Should Look”


16 year-old Chase Culpepper likes challenge gender roles. He wears make-up and mixes it up with male and female clothing. Most folks in the town of Anderson, S.C. are aware Chase and he is very comfortable with it.

However, some are not cool with Chase's gender non-conforming style.

When he went to the DMV to get his driver’s license, he was told to take off his make-up. The DMV employees that he was wearing a disguise and get this, Chase was told that he did not look the way a boy should.

According to DMV employees, they were following policy. As of August of 2009, the policy says, "At no time will an applicant be photographed when it appears that he or she is purposely altering his or her appearance so that the photo would misrepresent his or her identity."

Interesting, right?

Now, Chase is working with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund to handle this mess. The TLDEF stated in a letter:
“Chase’s freedom to express his gender should not be restricted by DMV staff,” said TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman in the letter to the DMV. “He is entitled to be who he is and to express that without interference from government actors. Forcing Chase to remove his makeup prior to taking his driver’s license photo restricts his free speech rights in violation of state and federal constitutional protections.”
Seems that there will be more to this story

2 comments:

R.J. said...

This is crazy and unwarranted. I looked just as femme as him in my early 20's but without the makeup. Yet no one objected to my appearance.

I'll be watching this one closely as well.

anne marie in philly said...

hope chase wins his case! damn, he's fine!

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.