A federal judge ruled earlier this week that an upcoming drag show scheduled at Texas A&M can go as planned despite the university’s recent ban on such events.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal’s decision blocks the university’s ban on drag shows, citing violations of free speech rights. In her ruling, Rosenthal said that banning the event simply because it may offend some campus community members violates the First Amendment.
Rosenthal also tried to make it clear that the university’s actions conflicted with constitutional protections for “free expression.”
This decision adds to a growing body of rulings against similar attempts to restrict drag shows nationwide at publicly funded colleges and universities. Notably, the Supreme Court has also recently refused to allow the ban of drag show bans in Florida, Montana, Tennessee, and Texas, which have similarly upheld free speech protections, per AP News.
The case has drawn national attention as Texas A&M becomes a new center of focus in the ongoing legal battle over public universities’ rights to restrict certain forms of woke expression. The controversy erupted after the university’s Board of Regents passed a policy on February 28 that prohibited drag performances across the Texas A&M University system, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“Texans’ tax dollars should not fund or be used for vulgar assaults on our values, which is why I’m defending the Board’s ban on these shows against the frivolous lawsuit launched by left-wing radicals…Our colleges and universities exist to help students learn and equip them as they take their next steps in life. They are not, and never have been, a place for taxpayer-funded drag shows where men pretending to be women engage in obscene, offensive, and degrading behavior,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a response statement on March 14.
The recent ban on drag shows from A&M came just after tickets had been sold for the annual “Draggieland” show at the College Station campus, as previously covered in a report by The Texas Scorecard.
While the first two years of the drag show saw the university financially supporting the performance, recent years have seen the student-run Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council covering all expenses, per AP News.
The drag show was eventually banned by the university, which argued that allowing it could jeopardize federal funding due to concerns about an executive order from President Donald Trump tackling progressive or “gender ideology” policies. The university pointed to previous cautionary examples, such as Columbia University losing federal funding, as evidence that the event could place the university at risk for a financial loss.
However, Rosenthal disagreed with A&M’s ban, ruling that permitting the drag show would not amount to an endorsement by the university directly for drag shows.
In her opinion, Rosenthal also claimed that the university has a constitutional obligation to allow a variety of viewpoints and progressive forms of expression, including those that may be offensive to the majority of students or supporters.
The Dallas Express recently reported that Texas A&M University has recently been under scrutiny for its continued support of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs despite a broader trend among Texas institutions to distance themselves from such ideologies. An investigation revealed that A&M offers a range of progressive courses and degrees, including LGBTQ+ studies, which conflict with recent executive orders from President Trump and Texas Governor Abbott to eliminate “gender ideology” from state institutions.