MELBOURNE’S Benjamin Ady fought for the rights of his religion yesterday when he refused to remove a spaghetti strainer from his head for his licence photo.

The “religious headwear” is part of the Pastafarian faith.

Mr Ady is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and felt he was being discriminated against by VicRoads staff in Carlton.

VicRoads outline on its website that religious headgear can be worn if it doesn’t block the face so Mr Ady was offended when told his religion was not included.

His wife filmed the incident and put the videos on YouTube.

“They’d never get away with this with the Muslims because then that would cause outrage,” Mr Ady said on the video.

“I just want to be allowed to have my religious headgear, like all the other religions, in my licence photo.”

He ended up being allowed to pose for the photo but it will have to be approved before he can receive his licence.

Mr Ady said Pastafarians believed the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the earth 6000 years ago in a drunken fit.

One of the more interesting things about Pastafarians is that they believe in heaven and hell.

Heaven is said to be made up of beer volcanoes and strippers, or sometimes a prostitute factory.

Hell is similar except the beer is stale and the strippers have sexual transmitted diseases.

According to Wikipedia, Pastafarians celebrate Holy Day every Friday and prayers are concluded with “R’amen”, a word between “Amen” and “Ramen”.

Ramen refers to noodles.

Mr Ady isn’t the first person to fight for the right to wear the strange headwear in identification photos.

In 2011, Austrian Niko Alm had permission to wear a spaghetti strainer in his driver’s licence.

Police approved it because his face was still fully visible.

In New Jersey in 2013, a Pastafarian was told a strainer was not on the list of approved religious headwear and was denied.

A Belgian Pastafarian was also denied in 2013.

Earlier this month, Pastafarian Lindsay Miller posed with a colander on her head for her Massachusetts driver’s licence.

She was previously told she could not wear her headgear but victory was hers when her lawyer from the American Humanist Association filed an appeal for her.

VicRoads director of Registration and Licensing Practice, Standards and Solutions, Helen Linder, said the organisation’s policy and licence image guidelines were aligned with those issued by the Australian Government Passport Office.

“These state that the driver’s licence portrait image must show the person’s facial features from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, and both sides of his and her face,” she said.

“In Victoria, recognised religious groups can request to wear items of headwear in a licence photograph.

“VicRoads’ policy states that all hats, caps and head coverings, other than those for religious or medical reasons, must be removed for the licence photo.

“VicRoads respects all cultures and beliefs and understands that many religions have items of dress and appearance that hold special significance.

“VicRoads cannot discuss individual cases for privacy reasons but will continue to balance the religious beliefs of Victorians while maintaining the integrity of this important form of identification.”