3/19 Updated with response from Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare
The University of Texas System has officially banned drag performances on its campuses, citing compliance with state and federal laws regarding the use of taxpayer-funded facilities.
“All activities at UT institutions are expected to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and executive orders, including any restrictions on the use of public funds,” said Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents. “Our public university facilities, supported by taxpayers, will not serve as venues for drag shows. Our institutions will not sponsor them. If the Board of Regents needs to take further action to make this clear, we will do so.”
The decision follows a letter sent last week by Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, who urged the university to ban drag performances. O’Hare cited President Donald Trump’s recent executive order prohibiting the use of federal funds to promote gender ideology.
“Because the UT System receives federal funds, I encourage the UT System to comply with the Executive Order,” O’Hare wrote.
O’Hare also criticized a recent event at UT-Arlington that featured a drag performance, stating, “Rather than promoting anything to do with education, drag shows and related events denigrate women. Drag shows highlight men reducing the perception of women to stereotypes and body parts.”
Following the move to ban drag shows, O’Hare commended Eltife for the decision.
“I commend Chairman Eltife for restoring order inside the UT System. His prompt and clear response in restricting the use of public resources for drag shows on UT System campuses is exactly what needed to happen. It is time for college campuses all across our great state to keep the focus on educating tomorrow’s leaders,” O’Hare told Texas Scorecard.
The University of Texas is not the first to take such action. In 2023, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler canceled a scheduled drag show on campus, calling the performances “derisive, divisive, and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent.”
Just last month, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents passed a similar ban, also citing Trump’s executive order.
Following Texas A&M’s decision, the Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn the ban and promote offensive and obscene drag shows on campus. Attorney General Ken Paxton is now representing the Texas A&M Board of Regents, defending the university’s right to restrict taxpayer-funded facilities from hosting such events.
The UT System’s decision comes after both Trump’s executive order, which recognizes the biological reality of two sexes and prohibits federal funding for gender ideology, and Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive issued in January targeting “woke gender ideologies” in state agencies.
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