FIRE, LGBTQ student group sue Texas A&M over drag show ban

Students at Texas A&M University are suing their college to block a new policy from the Texas A&M University system that bans drag performances on its 11 public campuses.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Queer Empowerment Council, a coalition of LGBTQ+ student organizations, argued that the ban violates the First Amendment.

The state land-grant university system’s Board of Regents voted Friday to ban drag shows, saying that they are “offensive” and “demeaning” to women. The vote came just weeks before an annual student-run drag show, known as Draggieland, was set to be hosted on the system’s main campus in College Station. 

But FIRE argues that as a public university supported by taxpayer dollars, the Texas A&M system has to abide by the First Amendment, which doesn’t allow government officials to ban expression simply because they or others find it “offensive.”

“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 news 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.”