A Pagan Priest From Maine Gets Permission To Wear Horns In ID Photo
After months of waiting for approval, the State of Maine decided to allow a Pagan priest from Maine to feature horns in his drivers license photo.
You have to hand it to Phelan MoonSong, a Millinocket resident, he's committed to his cause and he wanted to make sure that his legal identification was as accurate as possible. That's why he was willing to play the waiting game with the State of Maine in order to get a photo you won't typically see on an ID approved.
According to WildHunt.org, after legally changing his name to Phelan MoonSong, the man went to the BMV in Bangor to get a new drivers license. When he stepped up to take a photo, he was wearing horns, something he deems to be a religious statement and wanted them to be a part of his ID photo.
The BMV wasn't sure what to do, so they took the photo of MoonSong with the horns and told him he'd have to wait for approval from the state. MoonSong decided to send a package of documentation on how the horns were representative of what he stood for. That approval process took nearly 4 months.
It initially looked like MoonSong's request to don the horns was going to be denied by the BMV but after some mounting public support for MoonSong, the state reconsidered. In the end, Moonsong won and now has a Maine drivers license featuring his signature horns. MoonSong believes his battle, and victory, will help other people in their quests for religious freedom, even in drivers license photos.