Woman gets Permission to Wear Spaghetti Strainer For License Photo

A woman in Massachusetts will be allowed to wear something rather out of the ordinary for her driver's license photo.

The AP reports that Lindsay Miller is allowed to wear a pasta strainer on her head due to her religious beliefs. The Lowell, Massachusetts woman is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a satirical movement promoting a lighthearted view of religion.

Members of the church often are referred to as "Pastafarians."

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles says usually head coverings are not permitted for license photos, but exceptions are made for religious beliefs, according to the AP.

Miller told the Boston Globe

They were kind of laughing at me. I thought that this was not fair. I thought, 'Just because you haven’t heard of this belief system, [the RMV] should not be denying me a license.'

In August, Miller was reportedly denied a renewed license by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. After the incident, Miller filed an administrative appeal and enlisted Patty DeJuneas, a member of the Secular Legal Society -- the American Humanist Association’s network of attorneys -- to help in her case.

Before the hearing could take place, however, the RMV contacted Miller and told her she would be allowed to wear the strainer in her photo after all

Miller is actually fifth person from the United States to be allowed to wear the pasta strainer in an official photo.

USA Today says that the idea for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster came out of a satirical open letter in 2005, protesting the Kansas State Board of Education's decision to allow teaching Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution in public schools.