A ‘Hail Satan’ T-shirt? Not on this American Airlines flight
Runi Goyal loves her “Hail Satan” T-shirt.
Passersby often smile, chuckle or give her a thumbs-up when they see her choice in clothing.
But the shirt, which comes from the Satanic Temple religious group, didn’t fly with an American Airlines flight crew.
It almost got Goyal grounded.
The crew ordered Goyal, 49, of Key West, to either cover up or get off the plane she and her husband, Walter Price, were taking to Las Vegas on Oct. 30.
The conflict delayed takeoff, Goyal said.
Goyal filed a complaint with the airline and later got a refund for both tickets. And she says she’s an American Airlines frequent flier who will continue to buy fares from the airline.
Reached for comment, the airline said it’s sorry.
“We apologize to Ms. Goyal for her experience, and have reached out to her to understand what occurred,” its media relations people said in a statement.
But she recently went public with the incident, calling it an example of religious discrimination. She took American to task on Twitter and drew a ton of attention.
The black shirt has, in white lettering, the Satan shout-out and an upside-down cross.
In smaller letters, it reads “Est. 666.,” which is a numerical reference to Satan.
“It’s an atheist organization,” Goyal said. “Satan is a mythological construct, used as a tool to help prevent religious discrimination. It’s a fantastic organization.”
On its website, the group says, “The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice.”
“Imagine if my shirt said, ‘Praise Be Allah’ or ‘Blessed by Jesus,’” Goyal said. “It’s the same concept. This is really a freedom of religion issue which is protected by the first amendment.”
The incident started after Goyal and Price had taken their seats on the flight from Miami to Las Vegas.
A flight attendant suddenly approached, asking them to gather their things and walk to the front of the plane. Someone had complained about the “Hail Satan” shirt. She needed to either get off the plane or change shirts, Goyal recalled.
The couple replied that they wouldn’t budge from their seats.
Goyal, who said she is naturally loquacious, was at a loss for words. She kept asking who exactly found it offensive. One crew member stood out to Goyal.
“There was a blond woman standing next to him very angry, arms crossed, definitely giving me the stink eye,” Goyal said.
Then, a crew member asked her if she knew what the word “offensive” means, Goyal said.
“I’m a foreign-born, minority woman,” Goyal replied. “I know what offensive means and this shirt is not offensive.”
A customer service agent entered the picture.
“He asked me repeatedly to change or get off the flight,” Goyal said.
The couple decided to stay the course.
Price was wearing a few layers, so he gave his wife a shirt to put on over the “Hail Satan” tee.
“I would rather have someone ask me what it meant,” Goyal said. “The reason why I’m wearing this shirt is to prevent religious discrimination, and you’re proving my point by saying my shirt is offensive.”
Goyal says she is an atheist, not a Satanist.
Even the group that produces the “Hail Satan” T-shirt and other merchandise doesn’t worship the devil but has embraced the word that it stamps on jewelry, stickers, buttons, mugs, candles and statues.
“The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities,” sells for six bucks.
Initially, Goyal’s complaint to American received what she considered a tepid response.
“While I understand your personal perspective, we have policies in place to ensure that no passengers are subjected to objectionable situations while on board,” wrote Rome McCallister, who’s with American’s customer relations, in a Nov. 1 email to Goyal.
“Our flight attendants will be reminded of the importance of courtesy and professionalism in the face of a sensitive situation,” McCallister wrote.
But after Goyal took her case to social media, American tweeted to her, “Discrimination has no place at American Airlines.”
Goyal says she isn’t yet done with her response to the T-shirt rumpus.
“They issued an apology for the way I was treated,” Goyal said, of American. “I’m waiting for the apology toward anyone of any religion who can be potentially discriminated on American Airlines.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 5:32 PM.
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