Federal Judge Upholds West Texas A&M’s Drag Show Ban, Ruling That Performances Are ‘Likely Not Protected Expressive Conduct’

A federal judge says a public university in Texas can keep its ban on drag shows, ruling that such performances are not constitutionally protected “expressive conduct.”The judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, rejected a request to lift the ban from an LGBTQ organization, Spectrum WT, planning the drag shows.Judge Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, said that the “raison d’être of Spectrum’s drag show is sexual provocation — but they promise it won’t be too sexualized, too provocative.”“Not surprisingly, Spectrum failed to enforce its intended ‘PG-13’ format during a drag show held off campus, as professional and student performers tasked with ‘breaking’ and ‘destabilizing’ sexual norms engaged in sexualized conduct,’” he wrote.He said that minors had attended Spectrum’s off-campus events and that the group has a “proven inability to control the content that elides the argument that the 2026 show will be ‘appropriate.’”The jurist added that Legacy Hall, where Spectrum wanted to hold its drag show, is a “limited public forum” that the university has reserved it for “limited expressive purposes,” and that the school has the right to approve or decline events in that venue that it believes would not “promote a culture of respect among its students.”In deciding that the drag show is not protected expressive conduct, he noted, the event’s planners told the court, “We are not trying to convey a specific message.”Judge Kacsmaryk also said that the college is not singling out drag shows to be banned from campus. He pointed to a 2023 email from the president of West Texas A&M, Walter Wendler, in which he stated, “I would not support ‘blackface’ performances on our campus, even if told the performance is a form of free speech or intended as humor,” Mr. Wendler said. “It is wrong. … A harmless drag show? Not possible.”Judge Kacsmaryk noted that a three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit previously blocked West Texas A&M’s drag ban. However, that decision was vacated when the full court agreed to hear the case. While Judge Kacsmaryk upheld the ban, he said that the university’s policy allows Spectrum to host its event off campus or in “common outdoor areas of the university’s campus.” “Spectrum’s proposed show is likely not protected expressive conduct. Even if it were, Legacy Hall is a limited public forum, where Spectrum’s proposed show would not be appropriate. Accordingly, Spectrum has not proven by a preponderance of the evidence its claims against President Wendler,” he wrote. Other district courts in America have found that drag shows are protected by the First Amendment. The Fifth Circuit was scheduled to hear arguments in the Texas case, but it dismissed the appeal after Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling. FIRE, which is representing Spectrum, said that the group plans to appeal Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling. A supervisory attorney for FIRE, JT Morris, told The New York Sun, “We disagree with the district court’s ruling, and we’ll continue fighting for the students’ First Amendment freedoms.”

Federal Judge Upholds West Texas A&M’s Drag Show Ban, Ruling That Performances Are ‘Likely Not Protected Expressive Conduct’

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