Christian Woman Sues To Wear Headscarf In Alabama Driver's License Photo
Source: International Business Times
Christian Woman Sues To Wear Headscarf In Alabama Driver's License Photo
By Alexandra Suarez On 08/30/16 AT 4:39 PM
A new case in which a woman was asked to remove her headscarf in public has once again called the boundaries of religious accommodation into question.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alabama filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama n behalf of a Christian woman from Tuskegee whop was forced to remove her headscarf to take a photo for her driver license.
Yvonne Allen, who wears a headscarf not because she is a practicing Muslim but because she believes her Christian faith requires her to keep her hair covered in public, was forced to remove her headscarf by Lee County officials when she went to have her driver license renewed.
When Allen visited the Lee County office to renew her expired license, the staff fought Allen on the subject, arguing that only Muslim women could wear a headscarf, a press release from the ACLU stated.
Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/christian-woman-sues-wear-headscarf-alabama-drivers-license-photo-2409485
= new reply since forum marked as read
she married. She and her husband were not from particularly religious families, though they took their Jewish culture seriously, and their wedding followed traditional Jewish norms.
However, about a year after they got married they chose to become far more observant and traditional, quite strict about following Kosher dietary laws and certain other observances, though still not what you would call "orthodox." From that point on, Linda always wore a scarf over her hair in public or when they had guests at home, like this:
That image is from an Etsy page that sells traditional head scarves for Jewish women, BTW, and the reason such a business exists is that there are a number of traditionally observant Jewish women who do cover their hair for religious reasons, even in the US.
As Linda explained it to me, she and her husband, and others who followed the tradition, recognized thast her hair could be "alluring" to other men. (If you had seen her remarkably glorious mane, you would probably agree on that point.)
Of course, 1 Corinthians 11:15 refers to a woman's hair as her "glory," and most Christian women used to cover their hair too. In more modern times, members of certain sects (like the various Old German Baptists--e.g., Dunkards, Mennonites, Amish) still do:
During the imperial period in Rome, women generally covered their heads in public:
As did women in Medieval and Renaissance Europe:
Of course, even in the 19th and much of the 20th century, both women AND men wore some sort of head covering out in public. Even now, among some classes (especially the British upper classes), headwear is still an essential part of a "proper" outfit for women, often with hilarious results:
This one perhaps? 
that includes some form of head covering. It was/is a custom and in many Catholic (and related Lutheran/Episcopal) churches, you better not go into a church without "something on your head" (it generally morphed into some sort of scarf or veil). The Amish and Mennonites wear (very recognizable) head-coverings as part of their Christian beliefs.
In a related instance - observant/orthodox Jews where yarmulkes in the synagogue (and/or in public).
Those 3 religions (including Islam) came out of the same root origin of Judaism and carried over many of the Judaic customs over the millennia.
The fact that there are so many variables that can happen with an individual for photos - glasses or no glasses, beard or mustache or neither, short hair or long hair and every hair that could be every color of the rainbow. If anything, they use the face for general biometrics and not the hair.
I remember growing up when they used to have "family" passports (with the whole family in the one picture that was affixed to the passport) and when we got the photo taken, we were told it had to be in black and white and we were not allowed to smile. The times they are a-changing!
I can't make sense of this law. Either the Alabama DMV want to have a look at the person hair (full head with or without hair) and religion doesn't matter, (i.e. everyone's i.d. has to show the top of their head as well as their face), or what's above the forehead doesn't matter so much (re: Muslim women have on headscarf, Sikh men a turban, Catholic nuns a habit). As the law clearly states that the later is the case (Muslim women can wear headscarf = face is all that matters for i.d.), why can't other women of other religions wear a headscarf? 
What is the purpose of this law?
However I don't think she'll be turning up at any drivers' license office any time soon...
