Mar 22
University of Texas Tells Drag Performers to 'Sashay Away'
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
"Drag is there to remind culture not to take itself too seriously. All of this is illusion," said RuPaul.
That's not the case in Texas where two major educational institutions take drag seriously enough to ban it from 25 campuses statewide. On Friday, the University of Texas made the move. It follows after Texas A&M did so last month.
"Drag performances will no longer be permitted at the University of Texas at Austin's campuses and independent institutions," reports Austin outlet KVUE.
The decision comes as the art form faces hostility from conservatives throughout the country, led by President Trump who banned drag performance from Washington DC's Kennedy Center when he took over the facility in February.
UT's System Board of Regents chairman Kevin P. Eltife, told KVUE that "university facilities, supported by taxpayers, will not serve as venues for drag shows." The decision comes a week after a North Texas judge sent a letter to UT's System Board of Regents pushing for the ban.
"Rather than promoting anything to do with education, drag shows and related events denigrate women," Tarrant County judge Tim O'Hare wrote to the university. He wrote that these performances "highlight men reducing the perception of women to stereotypes and body parts."
In his letter, O'Hare cited an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second inauguration. The order states that federal funding is paused for programs that promote "gender ideology," among other changes impacting gender identity.
"UT isn't the first Texas university system to ban drag shows from its institutions. This year, Texas A&M also halted drag performances from all 11 of its campuses statewide," reports KVUE.
At Texas A&M, the move sparks a new First Amendment fight between students and university administrators. The Queer Empowerment Council, a student group that hosts Draggieland, has filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the ban, reported the Texas Tribune last month.
The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) reports that nationwide only two states, Montana and Tennessee have state law that explicitly restricts drag performance. Four additional states (Texas, Florida, Arkansas, and North Dakota) have laws about "adult" performances that could be used to target or restrict drag.
