DMV will let teen dress like girl for photo

South Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicles will allow a transgender teen to wear makeup and women’s clothing for her driver’s license photo, rather than requiring her to dress like a boy, because of a legal settlement that was being announced Wednesday morning.

Chase Culpepper, 17, 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.

Under the settlement’s terms, the DMV will revise its policy on photo credentials and train its employees in the proper treatment of “transgender and gender- nonconforming individuals,” court records show.

“I am thrilled with the outcome of my lawsuit,” Chase said in a statement. “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.”

A DMV spokeswoman refused to discuss the case Tuesday, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Chase, who previously identified as male but now identifies as female, was ordered to remove her makeup under a DMV policy that barred applicants from dressing in a way that might disguise their appearance.

The new policy, which takes effect in May, 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.”

Chase will get a new driver’s license photo, dressed as a girl, once the revised policy takes effect.

Kevin Shwedo, executive director of the state DMV, has apologized to Chase and her mother as part of the settlement, one of Chase’s representatives said.