Alabama Muslims
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Updated: 10:15 AM Jan 16, 2004
Alabama Muslims
Muslims upset about removing scarves to get Alabama licenses.
Posted: 4:00 PM Jan 16, 2004
Reporter: Associated Press
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Some Muslim women in Alabama are upset because state driver's license officials are requiring them to remove their head scarves if they want to get a license.

La Tonya Floyd said she left a driver's license office in Mobile on December 19th after being told state rules require her hair to be visible in her license photograph. She appealed to the state Department of Public Safety in Montgomery for an exemption for religious reasons, but was turned down.

She is one of more than ten Muslim women from Mobile and Birmingham who complained to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The Washington-based group wrote to Alabama Public Safety Director Mike Coppage asking the state to end its requirement for women to remove their head scarf, or hijab.

Department spokeswoman Dorris Teague said department officials are reviewing the matter.

Floyd, who moved to Mobile from Dallas last year, said she had no problem getting a license in Texas while wearing a scarf.

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