Texas A&M drag show ban blocked by federal judge

By Lucio Vasquez | The Texas Newsroom

Published March 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM CDT

Drag queens Hanna Santanna and Lily Adonis Kline during a lip-sync battle to the song “Roar” by Katy Perry at the Draggieland show in Rudder Theater on the Texas A&M campus in College Station on March 28, 2024.

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked Texas A&M University System officials from enforcing their recently adopted policy banning drag performances on their public campuses.

The ruling comes nearly four weeks after a federal lawsuit was filed against A&M on behalf of the Queer Empowerment Council, a coalition of LGBTQ+ student groups at Texas A&M University-College Station. Attorneys with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) argued that the ban violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Ultimately, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal agreed; she issued a temporary block of the ban on Monday until the lawsuit plays out in court.

"There 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," Rosenthal ruled. "Anyone who finds the performance or performers offensive has a simple remedy: don't go."

Texas A&M's Board of Regents voted in February to ban all drag performances across the university's 11 public campuses. The board argued that drag was inconsistent with the university's "core values" and argued the performances could create a "hostile environment" for women.

An A&M spokesperson on Monday said university officials were “evaluating next steps.” The Texas Attorney General’s Office, which is representing A&M in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ban threatened to cancel "Draggieland," an annual on-campus drag performance held on the College Station campus. The event, scheduled for Thursday, will now proceed as planned.

"This is another display of the resilience of queer joy, as that is an unstoppable force despite those that wish to see it destroyed," read a statement from the Queer Empowerment Council on Monday. "While this fight isn't over, we are going to appreciate the joy we get to bring by putting on the best show that we can do."