Florida Satanists volunteer to be school counselors after DeSantis permits chaplains to fill posts

Satanists in Florida have volunteered to serve as school counselors after GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation permitting religious chaplains to serve in those roles in public schools due to a shortage of personnel.

DeSantis signed the legislation in April, at which time he indicated that Satanism was not a legitimate religion and its adherents would not be permitted to fill such vacancies under the law.

“Nothing in the text of the bill serves to exclude us, and no credible interpretation of the First Amendment could," a cofounder for The Satanic Temple said in a statement to The Hill. "Should a school district now choose to have chaplains, they should expect Satanists to participate as well."

A spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, criticized the governor's approach.

“Either entirely ignorant of the most basic fundamentals of constitutional law, or too incompetent to care, DeSantis fails to recognize that it is not the place of the government to confer unique rights to one religious identity while denying them to another,” Greaves said. 

DeSantis previously indicated that Florida would not play "games" and "[w]e’re going to be using common sense."

Many school districts said they would not implement the plan when DeSantis signed the bill, according to the Tampa Bay Times.