Gender Non-Conforming Teen to File Federal Lawsuit against South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles

Chase Culpepper
Chase Culpepper

Chase Culpepper

New York, NY – The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) will hold a press conference on Tuesday, September 2, on the South Steps of the South Carolina State House in Columbia to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit against the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles on behalf of a 16-year-old gender non-conforming teen who was targeted for discrimination last March.  When he attempted to get his first driver’s license, Chase Culpepper was told by the DMV that he could not take his license photo unless he removed the makeup that he wears on a regular basis.

The suit – brought by Chase’s mother Teresa Culpepper on his behalf as a minor – asks the court to rule that denying Chase the freedom to wear his everyday makeup in his license photo constitutes sex discrimination and violates his right to free speech and expression under the United States Constitution. It also seeks a ruling under the U.S. and South Carolina Constitutions that the DMV’s photo policy is unconstitutionally vague, too broad, and lets DMV employees arbitrarily decide how a driver’s license applicant should look, without regard for the rights of the people they are supposed to serve.

WHAT: Press Conference Announcing Federal Lawsuit against the South Carolina DMV

WHEN: Tuesday, September, 2, 11 a.m.

WHERE: South Carolina State House, South Steps, Columbia, South Carolina

WHO: Plaintiff Chase Culpepper and his mother Teresa Culpepper; and Michael Silverman, Executive Director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund

WHY: “Chase Culpepper is entitled to be himself and to express his gender non-conformity without interference from the South Carolina DMV,” said TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman. “It is not the role of the DMV or any government agency or employee to decide how men and women should look. Chase should be able to get a driver’s license without being subjected to sex discrimination.”

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund is committed to ending discrimination based upon gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, test-case litigation, direct legal services, and public policy efforts.

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1 Comment on "Gender Non-Conforming Teen to File Federal Lawsuit against South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles"

  1. satins children are the new one of this message and I can say that the way people target and qwesion what is the human even though the way people get insulted that they see in a flesh and blood human not fighting to clear any doubt’s about a persons life chooses. In the way they appear at full system dogma or rather have aesthetics at their face value and accepts any life in motion just as he is living as his brothers and sisters aren’t being rude an judgementle judgmental they are when they meet a crossdresser and they don’t have the mind power or whitts about them to understand why another person appears oddly femenim when it makes you question thier sex type andthey haven’t been reserved enough but intentia or I.Q %?{∆}π×π√¶©™ to discern what is unfathomable to them in their judgment so they get madd even sometimes vilontent I could write a book on good edicut and Morales wrote Hi all the other use the newest craze of self assured methods of enlighten me my name is Curtis Lee Biggs and I say nay to the scapegoat for discremenation and other violent crimes

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