Upstate Teen, Mom File Suit Against the SCDMV

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “I should be able to get a driver’s license and not be subjected to discrimination and so should other gender non-conforming people like me,” says Chase Culpepper Addressing the media on the steps of the State House, Chase Culpepper announced a lawsuit against the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Culpepper says he wasn’t allowed to have his driver’s license photo taken as himself. “The DMV employees told me that they would not take my license photo while I was wearing make-up; and that I did not look the way that they though a boy should look,” says Culpepper He says he was told to remove the makeup. Using soap, water and brown paper towels, from the bathroom, Culpepper says he tried to remove the makeup. “It was heart wrenching to see him go through being degraded and humiliated because he wears make up,” says Teresa Culpepper, Chase’s mother Chase Culpepper says it took two attempts to remove the makeup before the DMV deemed his appearance acceptable. “Nobody wants a South Carolina DMV employee or any other government employee telling them how they are supposed to look as a man or a woman,” says Michael Silverman, Executive Director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. Silverman says his agency was contacted by Chase Culpepper back in March of this year after the incident happened. In June, according to Silverman, TLDEF contacted the SCDMV and requested they reverse their decision and allow Culpepper to retake the picture with makeup. Silverman says the SCDMV refused, thus they are moving forward with the lawsuit. “It’s not right, which is why I’m standing up for it,” says Chase Culpepper Chase Culpepper says he wants the court to rule that the DMV discriminated against him and violated his first amendment right. He also wants the picture retaken. “As his mother, it broke my heart to see Chase being forced to be something he isn’t, someone he isn’t. He is reminded of that every time he pulls out his license,” says Teresa Culpepper ABC Columbia News reached out to the DMV for a comment, but we were told they cannot comment on a pending lawsuit.