A Republican state representative in Georgia on Tuesday introduced a bill that would restrict women’s ability to wear a burqa or veil in their driver’s license photo and in public places, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
State Rep. Jason Spencer’s bill would expand current law, aimed at Ku Klux Klan members, that bans people from wearing masks that hide their identity to apply to women as well. The law currently bans men from wearing a mask, hood, or other device that hides a portion of the face, and Spencer’s House Bill 3 would add women to that ban. This would impact Muslim women who wear traditional burqas and veils.
The bill would ban men and women from wearing items that hide portions of their face “upon any public way or public property” including while “operating a motor vehicle upon any public street, road or highway.” The current law provides exceptions to the ban but does not include any exemptions for religious garb.
Spencer’s bill would also ban people from wearing devices that hide their faces in their driver’s license photo.
