University president in Texas writes email to students and staff canceling a campus drag show
West Texas A&M University canceled a drag show because it claimed the event’s sexuality “discriminates against femininity”
Campus president Walter Wendler announced Monday that on March 31, the college would not be hosting the charity show “A Fool’s Drag Race” that would have raised money for a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention, The Trevor Project.
Wendler wrote in an email, “A Harmless Drag show? No Such Thing,” to students and staff to notify them of the cancellation.
Does a cross-dressing show retain a single thread of human dignity? I don’t think so,” Wendler wrote. “As a representation of exaggerating aspects of womanhood (sexuality, femininity, gender), drag portrays stereotypical women in cartoonish extremes for the amusement of others and discriminates against womanhood.”
His announcement resulted in a student-led petition to save the show from what has been referred to as “an indirect attack on the LGBT+, feminist and activist communities.”
West Texas A&M University president Walter Wendler announced Monday that the college will not host the charity show “A Fool’s Drag Race” on March 31.
The money raised from the event would have raised money for a non-profit focused on suicide prevention, The Trevor Project. In the photo: Texas A&M
Wendler said he would not allow acts that denigrate women on campus and was thinking of his wife and granddaughters as he made the decision.
“Should I abandon misogynistic behavior that portrays women as objects?” wrote Wendler. ‘[West Texas] tries to treat all people equally. Drag shows are mocking, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, regardless of the intent of the state.”
He further compared drag shows to “blackface” performances, adding that he wouldn’t allow them either.
“As a university president, I would not support ‘blackface’ performances on our campus, even if the performance is told the performance is a form of free speech or intended as humor,” he wrote.
He then said that the university should live by the ‘Golden Rule’ and cited the book of Matthew in the Bible, Buddhism and Newton’s third law of motion as references that people should do for others what they would have done for them.
Wendler reiterated his support for The Trevor Project, recommending “skip the show and send the dough.”
His announcement resulted in a student-led petition to save the show from what has been referred to as “an indirect attack on the LGBT+, feminist and activist communities.”
Petition organizer K Klein referenced Wendler’s email claiming that the school president was referring to religious texts at a school that is “non-religiously affiliated”
A petition to restore the performance received more than 3,000 signatures on Tuesday morning.
The petition’s organizer, K Klein, referenced Wendler’s email in which he claimed that the school president was referring to religious texts in a school that is “non-religiously affiliated.”
Klein also called out Wendler for comparing the drag event to “blackface performances.”
“Not only is this a crude and repugnant comparison of two completely different subjects, but it is an extremely distorted and incorrect definition of drag as a culture and form of performance art,” Klein wrote.
The petition then cited school policy and claimed that Wendler was in violation.
“The university may not take any action against a student organization or deny the organization any benefit generally available to other student organizations at the university based on any political, religious, philosophical, philosophical or academic position of the organization or any expressive activities of the organization ‘ said the policy.
Free speech advocate Alex Morey (left) said Wendler was breaking the law by canceling the event. Rachel Hill, business director at Equity Texas, added that dragging demeans women
An advocacy group representative disagreed with Wendler’s comments that dragging demeans women.
“Drag has always been a way for people who don’t easily fit into the gender binary to embrace different facets of themselves,” said Rachel Hill, director of business at Equity Texas. The Texas Tribune.
She described drag as an art that positively promotes gender expression.
‘Being a woman comes in all shapes and sizes and that’s what we make of it ourselves. That’s what makes resistance so powerful,” Hill said.
Free speech attorney Alex Morey added that Wendler was in violation of the law for canceling the drag event.
“The only prejudice at play here is his,” Morey told the news outlet. “By unilaterally canceling the event because he personally disapproves of the views it could express, the president of WTAMU appears to have violated both his constitutional obligations and state law.”