The president of a public university in Texas on Monday canceled a student-run drag show, arguing that the art form was derogatory to women and comparing it to blackface.
“Drag depicts women in cartoon-like extremes for the entertainment of others and discriminates against womanhood,” Walter Wendler, president of West Texas A&M University, said in an email to students, faculty and staff. The stated intent doesn’t matter.”
In the email, which was obtained by NBC News, Wendler also said that he would similarly “not support ‘blackface’ demonstrations on our campus, whether the demonstration was described as a form of free speech or as humor”. Yes. That’s wrong.”
A representative for the university declined to comment, citing “pending litigation.”
The event, which was set for later this month, aimed to raise money for The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization. In his letter, Wendler urged the students to “quit the show” but still make donations to the non-profit group.
In response to the letter, dozens of students staged a sit-in on the university campus on Tuesday. Some protesters carried rainbow-colored posters that read “Don’t drag us down” and “Women who love drag.”
West Texas A&M University is “really big on supporting the LGBTQ community,” student Jasariana Gonzalez told KAMR-TV, an NBC affiliate based in Amarillo, Texas. Some contradict what the students and [the university] are doing,” he said.
A student-led Change.org petition criticizing Wendler’s letter and calling for the drag show to be reinstated had garnered more than 6,500 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
“Not only is this a gross and disgusting comparison of two completely different disciplines, but it is also an extremely distorted and inaccurate definition of drag as a culture and performance art,” the petition said, referring to Wendler’s “blackface” analogy. It is said while doing.
Not all students were against the cancellation of the show.
Colt Anderson said the university should not allow drag events because it is “not really professional.”
Anderson told KAMR-TV, “I know people like me who think it’s stupid that they’re doing this, and it’s kind of a joke to us.” ,
Another student in favor of Wendler’s decision, Zack Byrd, used Christianity to justify his opposition to drag shows.
“I’m a Christian myself. I live by the word, and it says in Leviticus, that they will not enter the kingdom of heaven if they continue in their ways, and I feel bad for them,” Bird said. told KAMR-TV. “I want them to be with me when I enter heaven. They are my brothers and sisters, and they are not doing well. They are going to die. It hurts me, because they are children of Jesus.”
Drag, a once underground art form that has deep roots with the LGBTQ community, has become a political flashpoint in recent months.
Legislators in at least 16 states — including Texas — have proposed measures this year that would restrict drag performances, according to an NBC News analysis. Most bills would prohibit such performances in front of minors.
Proponents argue that these measures are needed to protect children from pornographic entertainment, while critics say they largely render all drag overly sexual and unfairly target the LGBTQ community.
This month, Tennessee became the first state to enact such a law, banning the art form in public and in places where it can be viewed by minors. Artists who violate the law more than once can be charged with a felony and face up to six years in prison.