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A student-led LGBTQ group is suing the president of a public Texas university for canceling a student-organized drag show on campus after claiming such events are demeaning to women.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed the lawsuit last Friday in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas on behalf of Spectrum WT, a student group at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) in Canyon, Texas.
The suit names WTAMU President Walter Wendler and other school leaders in their official capacities, alleging they violated the First Amendment by calling off "A Fool’s Drag Race," an on-campus drag show event that was scheduled for March 31.
Proceeds from the event were intended to benefit The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that endeavors to prevent suicide among LGBTQ youth.
TEXAS UNIVERSITY CANCELS DRAG SHOW SAYING IT ‘DENIGRATES’ WOMEN, AKIN TO ‘BLACKFACE’
West Texas A&M University is a public university in Canyon, Texas, approximately 30 miles from Amarillo. (Google Maps)
In addition to asking the court to green-light their scheduled drag event and allow future ones, the students are seeking punitive damages and attorneys' fees from Wendler personally, which means he would have to pay the costs himself if he is found guilty.
The suit comes after Wendler emailed the student body last week to explain that while The Trevor Project's suicide prevention efforts are "a noble cause," he would not allow the drag show because such events "are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent."
"Such conduct runs counter to the purpose of [West Texas]," he added.
The campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. (Google Maps)
Wendler, who noted his Christian faith, likened drag's exaggerated portrayal of women to Blackface and called them "a slapstick sideshow that erodes the worth of women."
"Does a drag show preserve a single thread of human dignity? I think not. As a performance exaggerating aspects of womanhood (sexuality, femininity, gender), drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood. Any event which diminishes an individual or group through such representation is wrong," Wendler wrote in part.
"Drag shows are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent."
Wendler also said he would "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."
WTAMU President Walter Wendler likened drag shows to Blackface and called them "a slapstick sideshow that erodes the worth of women." (iStock)
A news release from FIRE claimed "Wendler appeared to know he was violating the law by canceling the show."
"Officials who violate the First Amendment should not be shielded from consequences, especially when they’ve had ample warning that they are violating the law," FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh told The College Fix.
The lawsuit alleges Wendler acted with a "retaliatory and oppressive intent toward Plaintiffs in reckless and callous disregard for their clearly-established constitutional rights."
WTAMU President Walter Wendler slammed drag shows as "derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent." (Paul Harris / Getty Images / File)
Wendler's action also prompted protests from students at the school and a petition that took issue with Wendler's comparison of drag shows to Blackface, and they claimed he violated school policy.
"Not only is this a gross and abhorrent comparison of two completely different topics, but it is also an extremely distorted and incorrect definition of drag as a culture and form of performance art," the petition read.
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A spokesperson for WTAMU told Fox News Digital the school cannot offer comment due to pending litigation.
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