FIRE Files First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging Texas A&M Drag Show Ban
The Texas A&M University System is now facing a First Amendment lawsuit after its Board of Regents voted to ban drag shows across its 11 campuses last Friday, including a show scheduled for later this month.Â
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed a federal civil rights lawsuit today on behalf of a Texas A&M student group, the Queer Empowerment Council, arguing that the Board of Regents’ vote violated its First Amendment against viewpoint discrimination by the government.
“Public universities can’t shut down student expression simply because the administration doesn’t like the ‘ideology’ or finds the expression ‘demeaning,'” FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh said in a press release. “That’s true not only of drag performances, but also religion, COVID, race, politics, and countless other topics where campus officials are too often eager to silence dissent.”
Last Friday, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents unanimously passed a resolution to ban drag performances on campuses, finding that “it is inconsistent with the system’s mission and core values of its universities, including the value of respect for others, to allow special event venues of the universities to be used for drag shows.”
The resolution states that drag shows are “likely to create or contribute to a hostile environment for women,” including “mockery or objectification.” It also claims that hosting drag shows “may be considered promotion of gender ideology” in violation of President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive orders, the lat
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