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Texas university president canceled a student drag show, calling it ‘divisive’ & misogynistic. 1st Amendment advocates disag

A student drag show aimed at raising money for the LGBTQ community was canceled Monday by West Texas A&M University’s president, who called such shows “derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny,” drawing backlash from students and free speech advocates.

In an email to the school community, university President Walter V. Wendler said drag shows “discriminate against womanhood,” compared them to blackface and said there was “no such thing” as a harmless drag show.

“A harmless drag show? Not possible. I will not appear to condone the diminishment of any group at the expense of impertinent gestures toward another group for any reason, even when the law of the land appears to require it,” the email read.

Proceeds of the show were due to support The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ young people.

The show was scheduled for March 31.

A university spokesperson declined to provide further comment on the president’s email, citing pending litigation.

Wendler’s decision and remarks drew backlash from both students and advocates who said the move was wrong – and unconstitutional.

A Change.org petition said the university’s student body “is calling for the reinstatement” of the performance on campus and called its canceling an “indirect attack on the LGBT+, feminist, and activist communities of the WTAMU student body.”

The petition said the president’s comparison of blackface and drag performances was a “gross and abhorrent comparison of two completely different topics” and “an extremely distorted and incorrect definition of drag as a culture and form of performance art.”

A Change.org petition said the university’s student body “is calling for the reinstatement” of the performance on campus and called its canceling an “indirect attack on the LGBT+, feminist, and activist communities of the WTAMU student body.”

The petition said the president’s comparison of blackface and drag performances was a “gross and abhorrent comparison of two completely different topics” and “an extremely distorted and incorrect definition of drag as a culture and form of performance art.”

In a letter to Wendler, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a group focused on freedom of speech and religion in academia, wrote it was “seriously concerned” by his decision and asked that he reinstate the performance.

“The First Amendment and Texas law protect student expression from administrative censorship,” FIRE said in a later statement.

“As an individual, Wendler can criticize this particular drag show, or the existence of drag writ large. No reasonable person would argue that public university administrators personally endorse the views expressed at every event hosted by every student group on campus. But as a government actor, President Wendler cannot co-opt state power to force his own views on the WTAMU community,” the statement said.

“WTAMU must allow the show to go on — and we’ll continue watching to ensure that happens,” it added.

PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy organization, called the cancellation an “abhorrent trampling on students’ free expression rights.”

“Drag shows should be welcome on campus; censoring speech the university president dislikes should not,” Kristen Shahverdian, PEN America senior manager of free expression and education, said in a statement.

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by Anonymousreply 68April 1, 2023 2:12 PM

And he totally does not look like a chronically constipated dork.

by Anonymousreply 1March 22, 2023 5:01 PM

Ah yes, the esteemed West Texas A&M, the Harvard of Canyon, Tx.

by Anonymousreply 2March 22, 2023 5:04 PM

That's rich...considering how "President Walter V. Wendler" looks exactly like a drag king.

by Anonymousreply 3March 22, 2023 5:17 PM

He’s against misogyny but probably supports forcing women to give birth to children they don’t want

by Anonymousreply 4March 22, 2023 5:28 PM

*

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by Anonymousreply 5March 22, 2023 5:32 PM

Fucking Aggies. Not surprising from a backward school system where the students barbequed themselves. Cultists.

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by Anonymousreply 6March 22, 2023 5:38 PM

Drag queens and trannies need to go away already. Grow the fuck up and get a real job.

by Anonymousreply 7March 22, 2023 5:47 PM

[quote]I will not appear to condone the diminishment of any group at the expense of impertinent gestures toward another group for any reason, [bold]even when the law of the land appears to require it,”[/bold] the email read.

So he's acknowledging he's breaking the law and violating these students' civil rights.

Lock his ass up and file a huge lawsuit on the university.

by Anonymousreply 8March 22, 2023 5:56 PM

It's about the sanctity of women. Now excuse me while I throw this bitch in jail for having a miscarriage.

by Anonymousreply 9March 22, 2023 5:59 PM

He’s a Repug asshole, but DQs need to stay where they started, in gay basement bar for a 10pm Tuesday show. We don’t need to see these narcissists at 1pm for brunch.

All this DQSTime bullshit has just become a way to “Own the MAGAs” and for DQs to take their lazy lipsync grift to the daytime.

by Anonymousreply 10March 22, 2023 5:59 PM

It's not "these DQs." It's some students that want to have a drag show and raise some money for a good cause. Good for them, and this asshole needs to sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up, and pick a different way to be a Christian Cunt.

by Anonymousreply 11March 22, 2023 6:02 PM

DIAGF, r7...

by Anonymousreply 12March 22, 2023 6:07 PM

This person looks like he is an absolute creep in his personal life.

by Anonymousreply 13March 22, 2023 6:09 PM

R11 either way it’s the whole Rupaul fad that’s invaded gay culture like a plague. Enough! There is more to being gay than dressing up like Britney Spears and barely mouthing her shitty lyrics. These Yasss Kweens are stuck in an echo chamber blender of poppers and flavored vodka with Dua Lipa pulsing in the background. They’re exhausting.

by Anonymousreply 14March 22, 2023 6:10 PM

Those ears, r13!

by Anonymousreply 15March 22, 2023 6:11 PM

R15, the ears seem to hang down to his chin. And that smile is one that only a fellow creep would love.

by Anonymousreply 16March 22, 2023 6:12 PM

He’s kind of right about the misogyny.

by Anonymousreply 17March 22, 2023 6:25 PM

No, r17, he isn't.

by Anonymousreply 18March 22, 2023 6:27 PM
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by Anonymousreply 19March 22, 2023 6:34 PM

The guy at OP's link looks like a character you'd see in some cornball 1960s comedy series.

by Anonymousreply 20March 22, 2023 6:35 PM

A drag show in Canyon, Texas. Just cancel it for not being very good.

by Anonymousreply 21March 22, 2023 6:42 PM

The down-turned smile is so joyous.

by Anonymousreply 22March 22, 2023 6:42 PM

[quote]Fucking Aggies. Not surprising from a backward school system where the students barbequed themselves. Cultists.

Sorry, but you are referring to a different school. This is West Texas A&M in Canyon. You are referring to plain old Texas A&M in College Station.

by Anonymousreply 23March 22, 2023 7:50 PM

why is there no mass shooting on these type of guy's meetings n congregations

by Anonymousreply 24March 22, 2023 8:19 PM

Nota bene: Aggies are troglodytes.

by Anonymousreply 25March 22, 2023 8:29 PM

You could reprint this photo in black and white, and he’d fit in perfectly in an old yearbook from more than 50 years ago. Style wise: 1962.

by Anonymousreply 26March 22, 2023 8:29 PM

R26, that's exactly what I was thinking. He looks like something out of the early 60s

by Anonymousreply 27March 22, 2023 8:36 PM

[quote]A harmless drag show? Not possible.

Oh, yes, Flip Wilson scarred me for life.

There's a line somewhere in [italic]Charlie Wilson's War[/italic] about a lot of problems being solved if they could just get these guys in the same room as women and alcohol. This university president needs a stiff drink and a loose woman (or man, though he seems straight to me).

by Anonymousreply 28March 22, 2023 9:55 PM

R7, r10, r17 = GOP apologists.

If this is "misogyny" then why do so many straight girls love RuPaul's drag race? No one in the forced birth party cares about misogyny. They ARE misogynists.

by Anonymousreply 29March 22, 2023 10:16 PM

He really looks like he has that syndrome that prevents people from being able to smile.

by Anonymousreply 30March 22, 2023 10:20 PM

So very tired of these neurotic puritans.

by Anonymousreply 31March 22, 2023 10:25 PM

Drag Queens must attend university!

After all, they know how to read a book.

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by Anonymousreply 32March 22, 2023 10:40 PM

We want nude shows, not drag shows!

by Anonymousreply 33March 22, 2023 10:43 PM

But I thought Republicans loved freedom of speech?!

by Anonymousreply 34March 22, 2023 10:44 PM

There can be "drag kings" as well as "drag queens".

That will resolve the problem.

by Anonymousreply 35March 22, 2023 10:47 PM

This sums it up

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by Anonymousreply 36March 22, 2023 10:50 PM

I'm sure this gentleman is a great champion of women's rights and equality.

by Anonymousreply 37March 22, 2023 10:51 PM

[quote]R22: The down-turned smile is so joyous.

Roger Stone smiles like that.

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by Anonymousreply 38March 22, 2023 11:06 PM

This is a university, not a primary school....they can't even pretend this is about "protecting the children" anymore

by Anonymousreply 39March 23, 2023 1:52 AM

How much do these Red State idiots keep wanting to violate Federal laws and the Constitution to the point they'd bankrupt their own state throughout the many challenges their AG will inevitably face on the road to the Supreme Court?

by Anonymousreply 40March 23, 2023 2:05 AM

🙈 The President looks like a Creepy Uncle.

I bet he's pulled down more than a few pairs of panties & boxers in his lifetime.

by Anonymousreply 41March 23, 2023 2:11 AM

Imagine the movie franchise if we’re had a gang of radicals actually doing the work, once and for all. I think if there was more fear these people would back off. Maybe some frozen water bottles at right house will send a message.

by Anonymousreply 42March 23, 2023 3:14 AM

guess who was a drag queen

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by Anonymousreply 43March 23, 2023 10:50 AM

Students sue.

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by Anonymousreply 44March 25, 2023 11:17 AM

Misogynistic? As if this university has never had a sexist professor or guest speaker.

by Anonymousreply 45March 25, 2023 11:19 AM

R44 I wonder if they will demand financial compensation for the non-show?

by Anonymousreply 46March 25, 2023 11:19 AM

Good! Drag should be banned nation wide. Fags mocking womanhood.

by Anonymousreply 47March 25, 2023 11:20 AM

Can students sue if a university refuses to host other types of shows? What about a light striptease?

by Anonymousreply 48March 25, 2023 3:43 PM

[quote]Judge Matt Kacsmaryk, despite having knowledge of an obvious and ongoing constitutional violation in front of him, has effectively cut off students’ First Amendment rights for a week, after a Texas university’s president canceled a charity drag show

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by Anonymousreply 49March 28, 2023 7:11 AM

I agree with this. People are free to express themselves any way they like with respect to their attire as long as they don't breach decency in public, but drag shows insult both men and women.

by Anonymousreply 50March 28, 2023 7:32 AM

The show will go on, but not at the school.

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by Anonymousreply 51March 30, 2023 11:36 PM

^ I can't see any children in that picture.

by Anonymousreply 52March 30, 2023 11:41 PM

Republicans have always wanted to eliminate drag, along with any kind of gender non-conformity. They’re done using the “think of children” appeal that wedged the door open to ban it. Next thing you know, states will start passing laws preventing people from wearing clothes of the “opposite sex”, however the hell they define that. However, I agree that RuPaul and the other sell-outs who Disneyfied drag for profit completely aided and abetted these fascist Christian conservatives by bringing drag to children in the first place.

by Anonymousreply 53March 30, 2023 11:59 PM

Exhibitionists should be kept away from children.

by Anonymousreply 54March 31, 2023 12:00 AM

Exhibitionists should exhibit themselves to consenting adults.

by Anonymousreply 55March 31, 2023 12:12 AM

Just kill all men.

by Anonymousreply 56March 31, 2023 12:23 AM

R47 needs a red tag.

by Anonymousreply 57March 31, 2023 12:41 AM

Conservatives = cancel culture

by Anonymousreply 58March 31, 2023 12:49 AM

Yes but only when it happens to them R58. But when they do it - it's just "free speech"...

by Anonymousreply 59March 31, 2023 12:50 AM

Those are quite the earlobes

by Anonymousreply 60March 31, 2023 1:00 AM

He looks like Ed Grimley.

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by Anonymousreply 61March 31, 2023 1:18 AM

WOMANFACE IS LITERAL VIOLENCE!

IT'S WORSE THAN BLACKFACE! INCOMPARABLE.

by Anonymousreply 62March 31, 2023 1:21 AM

I don't see anything wrong with Drag, but keep it to performing in adult environments. They're pushing it too far in performing just for kids. Trying to ban it outright in states like Florida is going too far too. Just keep it in clubs.

by Anonymousreply 63March 31, 2023 1:24 AM

[quote] They're pushing it too far in performing just for kids.

They push it to kids because kids don't know how to say NO to sub-standard rubbish.

by Anonymousreply 64March 31, 2023 1:53 AM

all replublicans r perverts, so everything is sexual to them

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by Anonymousreply 65March 31, 2023 2:24 AM

R65, is that a " he"?

by Anonymousreply 66March 31, 2023 12:55 PM

Show us on the doll where the drag queen hurt you, R7.

by Anonymousreply 67March 31, 2023 12:57 PM

Those fucking glasses make him look like Bull Connor

by Anonymousreply 68April 1, 2023 2:12 PM
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