This College President Knows the First Amendment Protects the Drag Show He Canceled. He Just Doesn't Care.
"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," he wrote.
This week, the president of West Texas A&M University canceled a student group's upcoming drag show. The move was unconstitutional—and he knew it.
"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," he wrote.
Now the school is facing a lawsuit, which alleges that the president's conduct violated students' First Amendment rights.
On Monday, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler announced in an email to students that he was going to cancel a drag show hosted by Spectrum WT, a student LGBT group. Wendler made it clear that he was canceling the performance—which was a charity event raising funds for the Trevor Project, an LGBT suicide-prevention group—because it offended him personally.
"I believe every human being is created in the image of God and, therefore, a person of dignity," wrote Wendler. "Does a drag show preserve a single thread of human dignity? I think not."
Wendler went so far as to compare drag to blackface in order to justify his censorship. "As a university president, I would not support 'blackface' performances on our campus, even if told the performance is a form of free speech or intended as humor. It is wrong," he wrote. "I do not support any show, performance or artistic expression which denigrates others—in this case, women—for any reason."
However, Wendler seemed aware that he was engaging in unconstitutional censorship. In a blog post, he wrote that he knew the "law of the land appears to require" him to allow the performance, yet he would proceed in canceling it anyway.
On Friday, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Wendler and other university administrators, with the student group's president and vice president acting as plaintiffs.
"President Wendler's edict canceling the student group's charity drag show is textbook viewpoint discrimination," reads FIRE's complaint. "Of course, as a private citizen, President Wendler enjoys the First Amendment right to criticize expression he finds offensive, distasteful, or immoral. But as a public official, he cannot bar Spectrum WT and its members from exercising their First Amendment rights merely because he believes his personal opinions override the Constitution."
The lawsuit was filed after FIRE sent a letter to Wendler reminding him of his legal obligations and urging him to reinstate the performance. After the letter was ignored, FIRE filed suit.
"President Wendler has made it clear to us that he knows what his legal obligations are, but he chose to ignore them," Spectrum WT President Bear Bright said in a Friday press release. "Hopefully, this lawsuit will not just help us the LGBTQ+ students here at WTAMU protect our rights, but also help protect students' rights across the U.S."
