Des Moines, Iowa — Today the ACLU of Iowa filed a complaint with the Iowa Office of Civil Rights on behalf of The Satanic Temple (TST) Iowa after state officials discriminated against the religious group by denying it permission to hold a winter celebration and ceremony in the rotunda of the Iowa Capitol, similar to what many other religious organizations do.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Mortimer Adramelech (pronounced Ad-ROM-uh-leck), Minister of Satan of the Iowa congregation of TST, against the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (IDAS), its director, and the Iowa Governor’s office.
The complaint details how the state illegally discriminated on the basis of religion in denying TST Iowa’s application to hold a holiday display and event in the Iowa Capitol Building Rotunda in December 2024.
The civil rights office complaint further details how the 2024 denial was illegal retaliation for TST’s three prior reports of discrimination, which were:
- TST's reporting to various public officials and speaking out in the media relating to the destruction of their 2023 holiday display
- Complaining to IDAS after it changed its policy to prevent TST from holding its September 2024 multi-day reading marathon of John Milton’s epic poem, "Paradise Lost"
- Complaining to the IDAS director after IDAS first denied TST’s application to hold the 2024 winter holiday display and celebration. TST informed IDAS that its assumptions about the celebration were inaccurate (for example, its incorrect assertion that the event would include child abuse) and informed IDAS that the denial violated TST’s rights, but IDAS continued to withhold permission to hold the event.
Adramelech said that state officials made a number of assumptions about his religion and used those assumptions to discriminate against his congregation.
"We are compassionate and caring human beings. We have families. We are Iowans and we are simply seeking to exercise our right to freedom of religion."
"In our application, we made it clear that our celebration, like our congregation, would be family-friendly and follow our seven tenets, which include compassion, empathy, justice, bodily autonomy, respect for others' freedom, respect for scientific fact, and doing your best to resolve mistakes when you make them. That’s what our complaint is all about: we’re looking for resolution.
"It's frustrating because displays and celebrations like the one we would like to have at the Capitol help educate people more about The Satanic Temple members and the values we embrace. Instead, state officials have tried to silence us while promoting other more popular religions."
TST’s 2024 application to use the Capitol rotunda for its holiday celebration specified that planned events would be family-friendly and appropriate for children. These events were to include a ritual, Krampus costume contest, caroling, and other activities such as coloring pages, and make-and-take ornaments.
Although the congregation had applied two months in advance to hold the event, just days before their winter celebration would have started, the group’s application was denied. The reason wrongly cited was that the celebration would have included sex acts, gore, and similar content—including, bewilderingly, assumptions that participants in the costume contest would hit children with sticks—and was not suitable for minors. But none of the celebration would have included that, as specified in the application.
More details about the discrimination against TST Iowa by state officials can be found in the ICRC complaint here.
Matt Kezhaya (pronounced Kez-EYE-ya), general counsel for The Satanic Temple, said, "State officials appeared to be reaching for any justification to prevent TST from accessing public property on equal terms with other religious groups. If there had been a genuine misunderstanding about the nature of the event—such as the false claim that it involved harming children—TST’s clarifications should have resolved it. Their refusal to reconsider, even after those clarifications, suggests a deeper motive: branding TST as ‘obscene’ rather than adhering to well-established First Amendment protections. The Constitution does not permit the government to judge the legitimacy or morality of a religion. It protects all beliefs, including those held by heretics, atheists, and agnostics. To ignore that principle is to risk returning to an era of persecution and intolerance."
ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said, "It’s one of the foundational principles of our country, and our state civil rights law, that the government should not favor one religious viewpoint or belief over another, or treat its citizens worse or better based on their religion. That means, among other things, that when the government makes the public space in the state capitol available for other religious groups to use, for example, a Christmas or Hanukkah holiday display, it cannot then legally deny the same right to other religious groups, and that includes our clients.
"Members of The Satanic Temple Iowa have the same right to express their beliefs as all other religious groups do," Bettis Austen said. "However, state officials treated the Iowa congregation of the Satanic Temple worse than others because they do not approve of their religion. That’s wrong, and it’s illegal under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. We filed this complaint as a first step in pushing the state, as it must, to come back in line with the constitutional and statutory requirements of religious freedom and nondiscrimination."
The filing of a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission is not a lawsuit. Instead, once a complaint is filed, the commission may choose to investigate and may choose to mediate between parties. After 60 days, the parties filing the complaint have the option to remove their complaint and instead request a "right to sue" letter, which then allows them to file a lawsuit in district court. Details on the process can be found here.
In a separate action in April, the ACLU of Iowa filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers to compel the Iowa Governor's office to produce public records regarding the denial of TST Iowa's application for a 2024 winter display and celebration in the rotunda. That litigation is currently pending, and the Iowa Atheists are not part of today's lawsuit.
