Woman In 'Hail Satan' Shirt Forced To Either Change Or Get Off Plane

As Buzzfeed News reported, Goyal was comfortably reading a magazine after their first flight was rerouted through Miami.

And so, when an American Airlines crew member told her to gather her belongings and join him at the front of the plane, she thought she was getting upgraded to first class.

The reason for this was the shirt pictured here, which you can see reads "Hail Satan." The flight crew said they found it to be offensive.

As Goyal told Buzzfeed News, "We initially just thought it was a joke. But he repeated the directive, and there was another female crew member who was behind him with her arms crossed looking very angry."

Instead, she is a member of an organization called The Satanic Temple.

Despite the name and despite the fact that the U.S. Government recognizes them as a church, they are a non-theistic organization.

And this is not unusual among members of the Satanic Temple.

According to Insider, they began as an ironic means of protesting the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and remain activists supporting free speech, the separation of church and state, and religious freedom.

According to Buzzfeed News, American Airlines requires passengers to "dress appropriately" and avoid "offensive clothing," but doesn't actually state what constitutes offensive clothing.

In other words, it's left up to individual flight crews to determine what is and isn't offensive.

Goyal said, "The man said, ‘Your shirt is offensive. Do you know what that means?’ I said, ‘I’m a foreign-born minority woman, I understand ‘offensive,’ and this shirt is not offensive.’"

As she said, "It’s an ironic shirt. People usually laugh at it, or they give me a thumbs up because they understand the meaning behind it."

Since her husband was wearing multiple layers, he lent her something to cover her shirt and Goyal remained on the flight.

Despite this, the crew avoided eye contact with her for the rest of the flight and the attendant working the drink cart passed her over.

Unfortunately, it seems as though Goyal's concerns are not unfounded, as Buzzfeed News referred to two different incidents in which Muslim passengers were ejected from a plane because an American Airlines crew member felt "uncomfortable" or "threatened" by their presence.

Although a representative said, "flight attendants will be reminded of the importance of courtesy and professionalism in the face of a sensitive situation," they also stood by the policy.

They also said they reached out to Goyal, who confirmed that they offered to refund her tickets.

h/t: Buzzfeed News