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VICTORY: Federal court blocks Texas A&M鈥檚 unconstitutional drag ban

HOUSTON, March 24, 2025 鈥 A federal judge today upheld the First Amendment rights of a Texas A&M student group by blocking an attempt by officials to prohibit the group's upcoming drag show on the College Station campus.
In her ruling, Judge Lee H. Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas held that a student organization, the Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council, was likely to succeed in showing the drag ban violated the First Amendment. The court held that drag is theatrical expression protected by the First Amendment and that the university鈥檚 justifications for prohibiting the student-funded, student-organized 鈥淒raggieland鈥 performance fell short. Draggieland will now take place as planned on Thursday evening.
鈥淚n recent years, the commitment to free speech on campuses has been both challenging and challenged,鈥 ruled Judge Rosenthal. 鈥淭here have been efforts from all sides of the political spectrum to disrupt or prevent students, faculty, and others from expressing opinions and speech that are deemed, or actually are, offensive or wrong. But the law requires the recognition and application of speech rights and guardrails that preserve and protect all our treasured First Amendment rights.鈥
鈥淭oday is a resounding victory for the First Amendment at public universities in Texas,鈥 said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the 果冻传媒app官方, who argued last week at the district court. 鈥淭he court reaffirmed that state university officials cannot block student expression they claim is offensive. State officials should stop trying to score political points at the expense of students鈥 First Amendment rights.鈥
Every year since 2020, students at Texas A&M University-College Station have held 鈥淒raggieland鈥 (a combination of 鈥淒rag鈥 and 鈥淎ggieland鈥) on campus. But in February, citing a recent executive order issued by President Donald Trump on 鈥済ender ideology,鈥 the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents abruptly voted to ban drag performances across all 11 campuses, claiming drag was 鈥渙ffensive鈥 and 鈥渋nconsistent with鈥 the 鈥渃ore values of its universities, including the value of respect for others.鈥
That vote canceled Draggieland鈥檚 March 27 performance, which the Queer Empowerment Council plans and hosts in a campus theatre open to all student groups. But the regents鈥 edict clearly violated the First Amendment, which does not allow public university officials to censor student performances based on nothing more than their personal dislike of its content or perceived ideology.
FIRE sued on the Queer Empowerment Council鈥檚 behalf earlier this month seeking to have the ban overturned on First Amendment grounds, and filed a motion for an injunction that would allow the show to go on while the case made its way through the courts.
鈥淲e鈥檙e overjoyed with today鈥檚 decision,鈥 said the Queer Empowerment Council. 鈥淭his is another display of the resilience of queer joy, as that is an unstoppable force despite those that wish to see it destroyed. While this fight isn鈥檛 over, we are going to appreciate the joy we get to bring by putting on the best show that we can do.鈥
鈥淭exas A&M, like any public university, has the utmost duty to respect the First Amendment rights of students,鈥 said FIRESupervising Senior Attorney JT Morris. 鈥淎s public officials, they can鈥檛 banish speech from campus just because it offends them, any more than they could shut down a political rally or a Christmas pageant.鈥
The FIRE(果冻传媒app官方) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought鈥攖he most essential qualities of liberty. FIRErecognizes that colleges and universities play a vital role in preserving free thought within a free society. To this end, we place a special emphasis on defending the individual rights of students and faculty members on our nation鈥檚 campuses, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience.
CONTACT:
Alex Griswold, Communications Campaign Manager, 果冻传媒app官方: 215-717-3473; media@thefire.org
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