The Satanic Temple is suing a Pennsylvania school board after their petition to begin an “After School Satan Club” was voted down last week.
The Satanic Temple’s general counsel, Mathew Kezhaya, said the lawsuit will determine whether the Northern York County board discriminated against the Satanic Temple by allowing some after-school clubs but not the temple’s, reported KTUL News. (RELATED: Satanists Plan To Infiltrate Elementary Schools Across The Country With New Satan Club)
In a 8-1 vote, the Northern York County school board voted against the approval of The Satanic Temple’s “After School Satan Club.” https://t.co/jrNThDE0BN
— WPMT FOX43 (@fox43) April 20, 2022
Kezhaya alleges that school officials made statements indicating that if the club had removed “Satan” from its name, the chances of it becoming a club would be improved, according to ABC 13 News.
“When the government opens up a place where expressive activity takes place, there are rules that must be followed,” Kezhaya said, according to Penn Live. “They can’t say, ‘We’re going to have only religious groups, or only secular groups, or religious groups but only if they are not popular, or are popular’. They can’t have language groups, but then refuse to allow someone to teach Arabic.” (RELATED: Illinois School District Defends Allowing Elementary School To Host ‘After School Satan Club’)
“I can’t emphasize enough how far outside the authority of the school board it was, to even pretend our first Amendment Rights were subject to their vote at all,” Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Satanic Temple said, according to Penn Live. “I’m appalled they made a public spectacle of a basic request for facilities access.”
Litigation could take anywhere from 18 months to two years or even longer if the case makes it to the Supreme Court, KTUL News reported.