Court of appeals blocks West Texas A&M from enforcing drag show ban
A prohibition against drag shows at West Texas A&M that started in 2023 can no longer be enforced, an appeals court ruled this week.
The legal fight surrounding this case will continue in a district court.
The debate over campus drag shows in Texas took another turn this week after a federal appeals court ruled that West Texas A&M University cannot enforce its prohibition while a lawsuit over the ban continues.
The case stems from President Walter Wendler’s 2023 decision to cancel a drag performance organized by Spectrum WT, a student LGBT+ group. Wendler argued at the time that drag performances are offensive and compared them to blackface, sparking a legal battle that has stretched into its third year.
The Texas Tribune reported that on Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the students in a 2-1 decision, saying that drag shows fall under constitutionally protected expression. Judges emphasized that the campus venue at issue, Legacy Hall, regularly hosts a range of organizations, making it unlawful for administrators to selectively block student groups based on the content of their events.
The order allows Spectrum WT to resume planning drag shows while the lawsuit continues in a lower court. It also cited Wendler’s record of repeatedly canceling such events, including one scheduled for 2024, as evidence that students’ speech rights were under ongoing threat.
A federal judge initially ruled in 2023 that the Texas university did not violate the First Amendment by canceling drag shows. In his decision, the judge labeled the shows as “sexualized content.”
West Texas A&M faculty held a non-binding no confidence vote against Wendler that same year, with 69% of the staff voting against the president. Following the vote, Wendler told KVII-TV that he’d have to be “pried out with a crowbar” to leave his position at the school.
In March 2024, the case made its way to the United States Supreme Court but justices declined to intervene, meaning the drag show remained banned pending further litigation.
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That decision could have implications beyond West Texas A&M. Several other Texas university systems have adopted restrictions on drag shows in recent years, setting the stage for a series of courtroom battles over the limits of student expression and administrators’ authority.
With the appeals court finding that students could face irreparable harm if their performances are barred, the legal fight now enters a critical stage. The district court will weigh not only Wendler’s arguments, but also students’ claims that banning their events amounts to unconstitutional discrimination.