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Culture > News

Gender Nonconforming Teen Told to Remove Makeup for Driver’s License Picture

Sixteen-year-old Chase Culpepper perfected everything about his driving test—except the picture. After receiving a perfect score on his driver’s test, Chase, a gender non-conforming sixteen-year-old, was asked to remove his makeup by a DMV employee before taking Chase’s photo, according to CNN.


His wearing makeup was a “disguise,” according to the DMV, and, according to their rules, he could not wear makeup, which he wears every day. The DMV argues that Culpepper’s makeup was a misrepresentation of his identity and that he did not look “as a boy should,” according to the Washington Post.

“It was degrading. I was in shock,” Culpepper said in a segment for CNN.

Culpepper is currently trying to convince the state to let him retake his picture.

Hannah Grace is a junior at Stanford University majoring in English. In her spare time, she loves to horseback ride.