Iowa cannot allow some religious events in the state Capitol while denying others, the Satanic Temple alleges in a federal lawsuit.
The suit, filed Thursday, Aug. 13, on the Satanic Temple’s behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, comes after years of friction between the temple and Iowa officials.
In 2024 and 2025, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services denied requests for the Temple to hold what the group called “family-friendly” holiday events at the Capitol, despite allowing other seasonal religious displays.
Officials have for months failed to respond to an application for a December 2026 event, the suit says.
Then-department Director Adam Steen, who ran unsuccessfully for governor earlier this year, issued the initial denial, saying the proposed 2024 event included “elements that are harmful to minors.”
The ACLU has filed complaints with the Iowa Office of Civil Rights for all three events, alleging religious discrimination and retaliation.
The denials followed the Temple’s Capitol holiday display in 2023, centered on a statue of the pagan idol Baphomet, alongside other religious displays allowed by the state. Gov. Kim Reynolds and other officials denounced the display, and a visitor to the Capitol destroyed the statue and later pleaded guilty to criminal mischief.
The Temple’s suit claims the repeated event denials were due to officials’ animus toward the Satanic Temple and its members’ faith.
“We’ve brought this case to uphold our core principles of free speech and religious exercise that we all hold dear, and to require the state, as it must, to come back in line with these constitutional and statutory requirements of religious freedom and non-discrimination,” ACLU Legal Director Rita Bettis-Austen said in a news conference.
According to court filings, Steen in 2024 pointed to a Krampus costume contest planned as part of that year’s event and said a permit for it was being denied because of “the anticipation of costumes with sticks used as weapons on children.”
Though the Temple and its attorneys clarified that no children were to be beaten and offered to cancel the costume event, the state maintained its refusal.
The state gave no justification for its 2025 denial, the Temple says in the suit.
The denials came despite the Capitol frequently hosting events for Christian groups and other faith organizations, the suit alleges.
It alleges the stated reason for the denial pretextual and notes that Steen, while seeking the Republican nomination for governor earlier this year, made frequent references to the Satanic Temple controversies, calling the group’s events “filth” and saying, “This is not religious expression. It’s not free speech. It is evil right now.”
Matt Kezhaya, general counsel for the Satanic Temple, said in Thursday’s news conference that the case is similar to legal battles the organization has fought and won in other states. In a recent example, a federal judge in Arkansas ruled in March that the state could not accept a privately-donated Ten Commandments statue for its Capitol while refusing to display a donated Baphomet statue.
“The foundational principle of our republic is that governments may not pick and choose who gets to participate in the public forums,” Kezhaya said. “We all equally are allowed to participate in public life, regardless of whether we’re popular, regardless of whether particular government officials agree with what we have to say or how we view things.”
The lawsuit includes federal constitutional and Iowa statutory claims, and seeks both monetary damages and an injunction against further discriminatory conduct.
The Iowa Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The ACLU is also representing a separate group, Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers, which filed record requests concerning the 2023 display vandalism and the 2024 event permit. Reynolds’ office denied the request, citing executive privilege, and litigation is ongoing.
(This story was edited to add additional material.)
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Satanic Temple takes Iowa to court over being barred from Capitol
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By William Morris, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
