A federal judge has ordered Iowa officials to let a local chapter of the Satanic Temple stage a holiday event inside the Iowa capitol rotunda, after the group's applications were turned down in recent years, The Guardian reports. Chief District Judge Stephanie Rose said the organisation had a good chance of succeeding on free speech grounds and gave the state's administrative services director seven days to approve the request.
Republican officials had cited capitol rules against gratuitous violence and obscene displays when rejecting the group. The Satanic Temple and its Iowa chapter leader sued in August, alleging discrimination. The office of Iowa's attorney general, Brenna Bird, said the state intends to appeal. The Satanic Temple describes itself as a non-theistic religious group that uses Satan as a symbol of opposition to religious authority.
Source: The Guardian
Photo: High Trestle Trail Bridge, Madrid, Iowa, United States (Unsplash F9o7u-CnDJk) by Tony Webster tonywebster, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Illustrative image of Iowa.
