Flying Spaghetti Monster Believer Wants to Wear Strainer in Driver's License Photo; State Says No

Arlington Heights, IL—Not liking a driver's license photo has become an almost inalienable American right.

Usually it's the license holder who objects to the picture, however. Not government officials.

But that's the case with Rachel Hoover, a 21-year-old Arlington Heights resident who is standing up for an actual inalienable American right: freedom of religious expression.

Hoover wants to wear a pasta strainer on her head in her driver's license photo as a display of her religious affiliation to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and her belief in Pastafarianism. The Illinois Office of the Secretary of State, though, has told her to change her photo by the end of the month or her license will be cancelled, the Chicago Tribune reports.

On June 27, Hoover went to Schaumburg to renew her license, and she placed the strainer on her head for her photo, the Tribune reported. Employees initially wouldn't allow her to be photographed with the metal colander, but after she threatened legal action, Hoover was photographed in a manner that properly displayed her beliefs in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, her religion's deity, according to a post on her Facebook page.

Officials in Springfield, however, were not as charitable.

In a letter dated June 29, the Secretary of State's office demanded Hoover retake her photo—sans strainer—by July 29 or her license would be revoked.

While the state does allow drivers to wear religious head attire for photos, Dave Druker, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's office, told the Tribune that Pastafarianism doesn't fall into that category, noting that Hoover was not wearing the strainer when she entered the building to be photographed.

Followers of Pastafarianism and members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster primarily oppose creationism and intelligent design and contend their beliefs are part of a real religion, one that's recognized in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Poland.

Last year, a Massachusetts woman won an appeal to wear a colander in her driver's license photo. But a U.S. District Court judge in Nebraska ruled in April of this year that Pastafarianism was a parody and not a real religion.

"It almost looks like Pastafarians are a mockery of religion," Druker told the Tribune, using clearly anti-Pastafarian rhetoric.

Hoover, though, believes she's the one being mocked in this case.

"It's not about hilarity. It's religious freedom," she wrote on Facebook. "I was publicly mocked by workers and customers when I went in. But I stuck to my beliefs. I'm not giving up."

In fact, Hoover says she's contacted the American Civil Liberties Union about her case, but it will take the organization around two weeks until it decides to accept it. In the meantime, she is looking at the possibility of hiring an attorney to legally challenge the state, although she admits she doesn't "have the money for that sh--."

For Hoover, an ordained Pastafarian minister, this is about standing up for her religious beliefs, she says on Facebook.

"I want Pastafarians to be taken seriously. It's not just so I can have a cool license."

PHOTO: Rachel Hoover expresses her religious beliefs in Pastafarianism by wearing a colander on her head. (Rachel Hoover via Facebook)

More via the Chicago Tribune

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