Beard Liberation Front
11th May
Media Release
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266
Election photo ID plans will discriminate against beard wearers
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that plans announced in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech on a requirement to show a form of photo ID to vote in elections in England will discriminate against beard wearers.
Only a limited number of photo IDs will be acceptable, including the passport.
The campaigners say that passport photos showing the bearer with a beard have long been the subject of pogonophobic controversy. In the official mind a passport photo with a beard can suggest three things:
1 The passport holder is hiding something under their beard
2 The beard is in fact false and designed to hide their true identity
3 The passport bearer plans to shave the beard off to avoid being identified in future
The BLF says this represents a perfect storm of pogonophobic prejudice and the campaigners will join with others to try and stop the plans
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, you can almost see what is running through the mind of perpetually clean shaven Boris Johnson here. In his eyes beard wearers are subversive so bringing in a photo ID law opens the chance of the hirsute being refused the chance to vote on the basis of disputed identity.
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