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THURSDAY, MARCH 6

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DRAGGIELAND

SUES said in the stateFIRE represents Queer Steinbaugh ment. “That’s true not only of performances, but also reEmpowerment Council drag ligion, COVID, race, politics, countless other topics where in lawsuit against top and campus officials are too often eager to silence dissent.” university officials The FIRE statement calls the

By Nicholas Gutteridge Editor-in-Chief

The Queer Empowerment Council, or QEC, the student organization that hosts and organizes Draggieland, has filed a federal lawsuit against the nine members of the Board of Regents alongside its student regent, Chancellor John Sharp and Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, is representing the group. The lawsuit comes days after the Board of Regents banned on-campus drag shows across the 11 universities in the A&M System, including the flagship campus in College Station. The resolution, passed unanimously by the regents last Friday, said drag shows were “inconsistent with the system’s mission and core values of its universities, including the value of respect for others.” “We refuse to let Texas A&M dictate which voices belong on campus,” a QEC statement reads. “Drag is self-expression, drag is discovery, drag is empowerment, and no amount of censorship will silence us.” FIRE is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that defends free speech nationwide. The group is currently representing students who are suing the A&M System and West Texas A&M President Walter Wendler after they weren’t allowed to hold a drag show on campus in 2023. In the 27-page lawsuit, FIRE’s lawyers ask a court in the Southern District of Texas to halt enforcement of the drag ban, claiming it violates the First Amendment. Draggieland was originally scheduled for March 27 in Rudder Theatre before the regents forced its cancellation. On Friday, QEC president and materials science & engineering graduate student Sophia Ahmed told The Battalion that Draggieland had sold over 150 tickets before the ban. The group began distributing refunds on Monday. Draggieland is funded exclusively by the QEC after the university stopped sponsoring and funding the group in 2022. “Public universities can’t shut down student expression simply because the administration doesn’t like the ‘ideology’ or finds the expression ‘demeaning,’” FIRE attorney Adam

regents’ ban illegal and claims it constitutes “viewpoint discrimination,” noting that taxpayers fund the A&M System and the universities under its umbrella. “If other students dislike or disagree with Draggieland, the solution is simple: don’t go,” FIRE attorney Jeff Zeman said in the statement. “Or they could organize a protest, as students opposing drag have in the past. The First Amendment protects drag and the ability to criticize drag — and it forbids the government silencing the side it disagrees with.” To be considered harassment, the Supreme Court has established that speech must be “objectively offensive,” “severe” and “pervasive.” FIRE said a “oncea-year drag show in an enclosed theatre that requires a ticket to enter doesn’t even come close to satisfying those strict conditions.” QEC has announced a “Day of Drag” protest for Thursday, March 6, and has asked students to dress in their “best drag outfits” across campus to prove that it “is not disruptive or inappropriate.” A separate protest, led by the Texas Aggie Democrats but supported by QEC, supporting student speech is planned for the same day from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Academic Plaza. “The more people who participate, the stronger our message: drag deserves its place on campus, and so do we,” the council’s announcement reads. The ban has provoked statements from further advocacy groups as well, including GLAAD and and ACLU of Texas. GLAAD, a nonprofit group supporting LGBTQ+ rights, posted Draggieland’s cause to its 444,000 followers on Instagram. The ACLU of Texas, a legal group that aims to defend civil liberties, similarly posted a statement on Tuesday, March 4. “Texas A&M is using hate, fear, and misinformation against the LGBTQIA+ community to ban drag,” the statement reads. “No matter what they say, drag is here to stay.” An A&M System spokesperson said the System could not comment on pending legal matters. A university spokesperson said the A&M System received notice of the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon, “and the Office of General Counsel is reviewing it now.”

Ashely Bautista — THE BATTALION

Drag queen Hanna Santanna performing to “Roar” by Katy Perry during their head-to-head lip-sing battle with drag queen Lily Adonis Kline at Draggieland 2024 in Rudder Theater on Thursday, March 28, 2024.

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