Ex-porn star OK'd to wear colander in DMV photo

Samantha Sadlier | The (St. George, Utah) Spectrum

ST. GEORGE, Utah — A former porn star who said she intended to make a statement was allowed to wear a colander as a hat in her Utah driver's license photo.

Jessica Steinhauser, 41, who also has been known as Asia Lemmon and Asia Carrera, said she's an atheist and member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a satirical movement promoting a lighthearted view of religion. Members of the church often are referred to as "Pastafarians."

"I'm a really proud, outspoken atheist," she said. "I am proud of Utah for allowing freedom of all religions in what is considered by many to be a one-religion state."

About two-thirds of the state's residents are Mormons, and Utah is home to headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Steinhauser is the fourth person in the USA to be allowed to wear the pasta strainer in an official photo and the first in Utah, said Bobby Henderson, the church's founder. Church members have no official hoops to jump through to join.

"I think it's nice, and I'm 100% sure Asia is doing this for good-natured reasons," he said. "Hopefully, the state of Utah will have a sense of humor about it as well. We are fortunate to have her as a member of the church."

Nannette Rolfe, the director of Utah's Driver License Division, said about a dozen Pastafarians have had their state driver's license photos taken with a similar colander or pasta strainer on their heads in recent years.

"As long as we can get a visual of the face, we're fine if they choose to wear the headgear," she said.

Hats and headgear are not allowed for driver's license photos unless they're religious garments, Rolfe said. After the first few Pastafarians came in about two years ago, state officials determined the church is a recognized religion and its members don't require any special paperwork.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster came out of a satirical open letter that Henderson wrote in 2005, protesting the Kansas State Board of Education's decision to allow teaching Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution in public schools.

Henderson's letter satirized creationism, stating a belief that whenever scientists carbon date an object, there is a supernatural creator, closely resembling spaghetti and meatballs, "modifying the data with his Noodly Appendage," according to the church's website.

"We are not anti-religion," Henderson states on his website. "We are anti-crazy nonsense done in the name of religion. There is a big difference. Our ideal is to scrutinize ideas and actions but ignore general labels."

Steinhauser called her actions "surprisingly really, really easy."

She said she went to the Utah Department of Motor Vehicles office in Hurricane, Utah, and put the strainer on her head at the time of the photo. She briefly met with opposition but was armed with documents about her religious freedoms, so the employees took the photo without further question.

Steinhauser, who said she's a member of Mensa with an IQ of 156, is no stranger to making waves. She starred in hundreds of adult films before retiring more than a decade ago and moving here to raise a family.

"I've always been a proud atheist, and I feel comfortable doing that even here," she said. "Even though it's really conservative here, everyone has always been really sweet about (my religious views)."

Her 9-year-old daughter found the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster website first, Steinhauser said.

"The church is purely satirical," Steinhauser said. "Catty learned about it online before I did. She's been an atheist since she was 5, and that's how I learned about it."

Contributing: The Associated Press