fox by jans canon.jpg

Bishop's spirit animal is the fox, which is why he applied for a religious exemption for his ID. (Creative Commons/Flickr user jans canon)

(jans canon)

A Portland man finally has his driver's license after a nine-month appeal for a religious exemption. The man, who goes by Bishop, wanted to wear a fox hat in order to honor his spirit animal.

The DMV folks at the DMV let him wear it in his ID photo. But after it was submitted for approval, Bishop was denied. His religion, a Neze Perce tradition called Seven Drums, has its practitioners adopt a spirit animal.

Bishop wanted to wear the fox hat in the photo to honor his.

After a lengthy appeal, Bishop finally has his ID. But he warns other to be aware of his story when it comes time to renew their licenses. After all, his rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment.

"It shouldn't matter if you wear a yamulke or a Hijab or, 'a silly fox hat,' as the man at the DMV wants to call it," Bishop said.

The DMV, for its part, said that the facial recognition software it uses has a hard time processing photos where the subject is wearing any sort of headgear. A DMV spokesman told KATU that he had never had an exemption for this particular religion before.

Watch KATU's report below:

--Eder Campuzano

503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com