A federal judge on Monday ruled that the University of Texas A&M cannot ban drag performances on its campuses following a lawsuit from an LGBT activist group.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal said that the decision from the university’s board of regents likely violated the First Amendment and blocked the ban while the case played out in court. The Texas A&M Board of Regents was sued earlier this month by the Queer Empowerment Council which claimed the ban on drag performances in university spaces was unconstitutional.
“The Board, and some members of the A&M community, are offended by the Draggieland performance. To ban the performance from taking place on campus because it offends some members of the campus community is precisely what the First Amendment prohibits,” Rosenthal said.
As part of its justification for the prohibition, the board pointed to an executive order from…
