Texas university students protest drag show's cancellation

Protests continued Wednesday at a university in the Texas Panhandle after the school's president said a planned campus drag show wouldn't be allowed and expressed the view that such events 'discriminate against womanhood.'

Protests continued Wednesday at a university in the Texas Panhandle after the school's president said a planned campus drag show wouldn't be allowed and expressed the view that such events "discriminate against womanhood."

Dozens of students gathered for the protests for a second day at West Texas A&M University, located in Canyon, just south of Amarillo. The students have been waving gay pride flags and holding signs that included the sayings "Women for Drag," "Drag is Rad" and "Everybody Say Love."

In a Tuesday opinion column laden with religious references, the university's president, Walter Wendler, wrote that "drag shows are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent." He also wrote that "drag shows stereotype women in cartoonlike extremes for the amusement of others."

In recent months, drag shows across the country have been targeted by right-wing activists and politicians, with Republican lawmakers in several states, including Texas, proposing restrictions on the shows. And events like drag story hours, where drag queens read books to children, have drawn protesters.

WT Spectrum, a student organization for LGBTQIA students and allies, was recruiting participants for the March 31 drag show as a way to raise money for the Trevor Project, a group that works to prevent suicide among LGBTQ2S+ young people.

In an Instagram post, WT Spectrum wrote that drag isn't designed to be offensive, adding that it's a celebration of many things, including "queerness, gender, acceptance, love and especially femininity." The group asked that Wendler reinstate the show, apologize and step down from his post.

The group said in an Instagram post Wednesday that it still hoped to hold the show on March 31, but it wasn't yet sure where it would be held. The group said that it was talking with supporters and venues in the area.