Self-Identified Pastafarian Wins Right To Wear Colander In Driver's License Photo

Massachusetts resident Lindsay Miller has been granted the right to wear a colander on her head for her official driver's license photo, under the agency's religious exemption rules.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles does not permit head coverings or hats to be worn in license photos except for religious reasons.

Miller, a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, was represented by the legal center of the American Humanist Association, which describes the church as "a secular religion that views the existence of a Flying Spaghetti Monster to be just as probable as the existence of the Christian God." Followers of the religion are called Pastafarians.

"As a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I feel delighted that my Pastafarianism has been respected by the Massachusetts RMV," Miller said. "While I don't think the government can involve itself in matters of religion, I do hope this decision encourages my fellow Pastafarian Atheists to come out and express themselves as I have."

"If people are given the right to wear religious garments in government ID photos, then this must extend to people who follow the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster," said David Niose, legal director of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center.