ACLU files civil rights complaint over denied Satanic Temple event at Iowa Capitol

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa filed a complaint Tuesday with the Iowa Office of Civil Rights on behalf of The Satanic Temple Iowa over state officials’ denial of a 2024 winter display and celebration in the Capitol rotunda.

The temple’s celebration had been planned for Dec. 14 — one year after a statue depicting the pagan idol Baphomet that was part of a display by the temple at the Iowa Capitol was destroyed.

  Buy Photo

Mortimer Adramelech, minister of Satan of the Iowa congregation of The Satanic Temple, said state officials made a number of incorrect assumptions about the group and used those assumptions to discriminate against the congregation. Specifically, state officials said they denied the application over concerns sticks that are part of a Krampus costume contest could be used to hurt children.

The complaint was filed against the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (IDAS), its director and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office.

IDAS said the display violated the obscenity guidelines in the “memorandum of understanding” groups are required to follow when holding displays or events at the Capitol complex, and was not suitable for minors. The guidelines prohibit “obscene materials,” including ones that depict “gratuitous violence or gore” — none of which would have been included in the celebration, according to the group’s application.

Events were to include a flameless candle, a procession, an invocation, a Krampus costume competition, holiday caroling and other family-friendly activities such as coloring pages and make-and-take ornaments.

  Buy Photo

State officials did not explain what in the group’s song list, make-and-take ornaments, coloring pages, costume contest or ritual was determined to be “obscene material” or “gratuitous violence or gore.”

  Buy Photo

Iowa Department of Administrative Services (IDAS) Director Adam Steen, in an email responding to The Satanic Temple, said: “The cumulative circumstances that occur within the State Capitol building, including the presence of minors, coupled with the anticipation of costumes with sticks used as weapons on children, positions the event to be harmful to minors contrary to” the memorandum of understanding.

“At no time had anybody at TST Iowa proposed to permit or encourage participants in the costume contest to use sticks ‘as weapons on children,’” Adramelech wrote in the complaint. “We responded as much, stating that any sticks at the event would be ‘a traditional costume component and for appearance only,’ and were ‘never intended to be used on anyone.’ Still, in an attempt to save the event, we offered to omit the costume contest entirely and resubmit the application.”

  Buy Photo

IDAS, though, maintained the denial.

"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,“ Adramelech told reporters during a Tuesday media call.

"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,“ he said, 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.“

Founded in 2013, the Salem, Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple says it doesn’t believe in Satan but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that advocates for secularism. It is separate from the Church of Satan, which was founded in the 1960s.

“Instead, state officials have tried to silence us while promoting other more popular religions,” Adramelech said.

In a statement to The Gazette, Gov. Reynolds maintained her belief that The Satanic Temple’s event would have harmed children.

“As I’ve said before, the Iowa State Capitol Complex is a place that is open to the public, where children and families routinely visit,” Reynolds said. “Because of this, the State’s event policy takes into consideration conduct that would be harmful to minors. This satanic event, which specifically targeted children, would have been harmful to minors and so it was denied.”

ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said state officials discriminated against the temple by denying them the same ability to use public space at the Iowa Capitol given to other religious groups, violating the Iowa Civil Rights Act and the group’s First Amendment rights.

  Buy Photo

The complaint alleges the denial was in retaliation over the group’s prior reports of discrimination in the wake of the destruction of their 2023 holiday display.

The temple also complained to IDAS after the state changed its policy to prevent The Satanic Temple from holding a multiday reading of John Milton’s poem “Paradise Lost” at the Capitol in September 2024. IDAS changed its events policy to prohibit multiday events and limit organizations to one event per calendar year, and refused to permit the multiday event despite having done so earlier that year for a Christian organization.

“It is one of the foundational principles of our country and of 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,” Bettis Austen told reporters Tuesday. “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."

She said the complaint is a first step “in pushing the state as it must to come back in line with the statutory and constitutional requirements of religious freedom and non discrimination.”

The civil rights complaint is a procedural step required before filing a lawsuit in either state or federal court, should the group decide.

“This is a step that we need to take before we would have the option of bringing this particular type of statutory claim in court, either state or federal,” Bettis Austen said.

She would not say whether the ACLU intends to do so.

The ACLU of Iowa in April also filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers demanding Reynolds’ office release requested public records over state officials’ denial of a request by the Satanic Temple of Iowa to hold the 2024 holiday celebration at the State Capitol Building, similar to events the group had celebrated there in previous years.

The governor's office refused to produce the requested documents, citing "executive privilege," according to the ACLU of Iowa. According to the group, some relevant materials were turned over, but much was redacted.

That litigation, which is separate from the civil rights complaint filed Tuesday, is currently pending.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com