HOUSTON - Though Texas A&M University tried to stop it, an annual drag show was held last night thanks to a federal judge who found the school's stance violated the First Amendment.
On March 24, Houston judge Lee Rosenthal granted an injunction that allowed "Draggieland" to be held on campus in College Station. The school had tried to cancel the event, which is fully funded by the Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council.
A month before the show, the school went back on its approval of Draggieland with a board resolution finding it is inconsistent with the school's "core values... including the value of respect for others" to hold a drag show in Rudder Theatre.
The board worried a recent order from President Donald Trump on "gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth" and a letter from Gov. Greg Abbott put federal funding in jeopardy.
"It is a ticketed event; only those who want to attend do so," Judge Rosenthal wrote. "Anyone who finds the performance or performers offensive has a simple remedy: don't go."
The QEC was forced to go to federal court after A&M canceled the show on Feb. 28, represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
"Today is a resounding victory for the First Amendment at public universities in Texas," FIRE lawyer Adam Steinbaugh said.
"State officials should stop trying to score political points at the expense of students' First Amendment rights."
Texas A&M voted to ban drag shows on all 11 of its campuses. Its resolution found fault with exaggerated female make-up and prosthetics, plus "sexualized, vulgar or lewd conduct."
"(T)he Board finds that Drag Show Events are likely to create or contribute to a hostile environment for women contrary to System anti-discrimination policy and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, as these events often involve unwelcome and objectively offensive conduct based on sex for many members of the respective communities of the Universities, particularly when they involve the mockery or objectification of women," the resolution says.
One group of students gathered in prayer outside Draggieland, saying they did so for the performers' and attendees' souls.
Rosenthal wasn't tasked with deciding the fates of souls, only whether A&M violated the First Amendment. He looked at a 2023 decision in a challenge to a Texas law that targeted "sexually oriented performance" and imposed civil penalties for businesses that hosted them, plus criminal penalties for performers.
Groups that organized a "Woodlands Pride" event argued the "Drag Ban" violated the First Amendment as an impermissible prior restraint on speech.
Judge David Hittner found drag shows are art and entertainment and must be afforded First Amendment protection. He found the Texas law unconstitutional in siding with groups like the American Civil Liberties Union.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has not ruled on a 2023 decision by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who upheld a ban on drag shows at West Texas A&M University.
Judge Rosenthal said that case differentiates from Draggieland as children were expected to be in attendance at the West Texas A&M show, which was held off-campus after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to enter an injunction pending the appeal.
Judge Kacsmaryk wrote there is an outer limit on expressive conduct "when children are involved."
"Here, by contrast, there is no evidence that Draggieland marketed itself as a child-friendly event, or that any of the 168 Draggieland tickets were sold to children," Rosenthal wrote.
"The fact that the event is hosted by a student group and primarily markets itself to A&M students supports finding that that the attendees are intended to, and likely will, be consenting adults."