Photo: WYFF
Remember when we told you folks about Chase Culpepper, a teenager from South Carolina, who decided to sue the Department of Motor Vehicles after he found himself embarrassed by the local authority? The transgender said he was humiliated by DMV’s employees after they asked him to remove his makeup so that they could take his license photo.
Chase, who is now 17, is about a month away from taking another picture for his driver’s license. This time, however, she’ll be wearing make-up as a legal settlement was set.
The transgender teen contended in a federal lawsuit that DMV officials had violated her constitutional rights last year by refusing to allow her to have her photo taken as she usually appears in public. According to the LA Times, the DMV will revise its policy on photo credentials and train its employees in the proper treatment of “transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals”.
“I am thrilled with the outcome of my lawsuit. My clothing and makeup reflect who I am. From Day 1, all I wanted was to get a driver’s license that looks like me. Now I will be able to do that. It was hurtful to be singled out for being transgender and made to feel that somehow I wasn’t good enough,” Chase said in a statement.
It appears the teenager’s struggle will help other transgender Americans who will not experience the same problem once the new policy will take effect in May. It will make clear that a person is not misrepresenting his or her identity “when the applicant’s makeup, clothing or accessories do not match traditional expectations”.
The transgender teen contended in a federal lawsuit that DMV officials had violated her constitutional rights last year by refusing to allow her to have her photo taken as she usually appears in public. According to the LA Times, the DMV will revise its policy on photo credentials and train its employees in the proper treatment of “transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals”.
“I am thrilled with the outcome of my lawsuit. My clothing and makeup reflect who I am. From Day 1, all I wanted was to get a driver’s license that looks like me. Now I will be able to do that. It was hurtful to be singled out for being transgender and made to feel that somehow I wasn’t good enough,” Chase said in a statement.
It appears the teenager’s struggle will help other transgender Americans who will not experience the same problem once the new policy will take effect in May. It will make clear that a person is not misrepresenting his or her identity “when the applicant’s makeup, clothing or accessories do not match traditional expectations”.
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