A Pastafarian displayed her allegiance to the Flying Spaghetti Monster in her MA driver’s license photo.
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Miller was finally allowed to get her license photo clicked with a colander on the head.
Belonging to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, she won her appeal against the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) for the right to wear her colander, saying she is a “Pastafarian”.
She now is the proud owner of a MA driving license with a metal colander on her head.
Lindsay Miller claims the spaghetti strainer is a sign of her devotion to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The Lowell, Mass. resident loves the history of the religion, which claims hundreds of years of existence but only managed to become mainstream in 2005, when Bobby Henderson sent an open letter out announcing the Church.
The MA Registry of Motor Vehicles denied Miller’s driver’s license renewal in August, as they do not permit hats or head coverings, with the exception of those for religious reasons.
If people were allowed to wear their religious garments in photos for government ID’s, this needed to extend to them as well according to David Noise of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. “But my understanding, and my view of it, is that it’s a secular religion that uses parody to make certain points about a belief system”, said DeJuneas.
“The First Amendment applies to every person and every religion, so I was dismayed to hear that Lindsay had been ridiculed for simply seeking the same freedoms and protections afforded to people who belong to more traditional or theistic religions”, said Miller’s attorney, Patty DeJuneas, a member of the Secular Legal Society.
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Miller said that she was delighted that her Pastafarianism was respected by the RMV in MA and while she feels the government does not have a role in religious matters she encourages other Pastafarians to express themselves as she has. In 2014, a Pomfret, N.Y., town councilor wore a strainer on his head when he took his oath for office. “This is important not just for me, but for everyone in the [Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster] community”.
