The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit against state Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday for not allowing a California teen to wear makeup while they take his driver's license photo.

Sixteen-year-old Chase Culpepper from Anderson believes that the state DMV violated his constitutional right by prohibiting him from wearing his usual eyeliner and eye shadow pair while taking his photo, which would appear in his driver's license.

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The teen is male by birth, but refuses to conform to gender-specific pronouns. Culpepper is used to wearing makeup and female clothing, as well as androgynous outfits, as part of his normal daily routine.

However, in spite of his objections, the teen was asked to wash his face before they took his photo.

The DMV insisted that its employees did nothing wrong and were only upholding a policy that forbids putting pictures in driver's license where an individual appears to have altered his or her appearance by purpose.

During a press conference, the TLDEF deemed the regulation unconstitutional because it is 'vague and arbitrary.'

Teresa Culpepper, the teen's mother who initiated the case, asked the court to rule against DMV's policy. She cited it violated her son's constitutional right to freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, the 16-year-old licensed driver is hoping to have his driver's license photo taken again, stressing that he would really like to "express to the world" who he really is.

At the time, the teen cited that the DMV staff explained that rules state that a driver's license photo should show the individual as they usually appear and prohibits photos showing a person in 'disguise.'

"The Department of Motor Vehicles should not have forced me to remove my make-up simply because my appearance does not meet their expectations of what a boy should look like," he explained.

Tagstransgender, teen, california, Lawsuit, DMV