Lone Star Woke: West Texas A&M Faculty Condemns President for Canceling Drag Show

Faculty members of West Texas A&M University (WT) are condemning the school’s president with a vote of no confidence after he canceled a drag show that was scheduled to take place on campus. WT President Walter Wendler said in a letter to students that drag shows “stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood.”

Faculty senate president Ashley Pinkham announced the results of a campuswide vote this week, revealing that a strong majority faculty are against WT President Walter Wendler, with 179 votes to condemn him, and 82 disagreeing with the vote of no confidence, according to a report by the Texas Tribune.

While the vote is nonbinding, it reveals how the majority of WT faculty view events in which men dress up as women.

Last month, Wendler referred to drag shows as an event that demeans and diminishes women, and compared men who participate in drag shows to people who wear “blackface.”

“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. I do not support any show, performance or artistic expression which denigrates others — in this case, women — for any reason,” Wendler said.

In a letter to the campus community, Wendler added drag shows “stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood,” and that allowing them would be considered workplace prejudice because they make fun of women.

The recent resolution condemning Wendler accused him of exhibiting a pattern of “divisive, misogynistic, homophobic and non-inclusive rhetoric that stands in stark contrast with the Core Values of the university.”

Faculty members also accused the university president of abusing his position by running the school based on his own religious ideology.

The resolution also attacks Wendler for encouraging students to make a huge money-saving decision, which involves refraining from attending a four-year university immediately after high school, to attend community college first.

Drag related issues have become a major problem in the United States, as men scantily clad in women’s clothing increasingly insist on putting on performances in front of children.

Meanwhile, some states are countering drag shows with anti-grooming legislation.

Last month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a bill criminalizing drag shows that occur in public or in the view of children. The legislation was submitted by State Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, who called it “a common sense child-safety bill.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.