The legal dispute over West Texas A&M University’s decision to prohibit a campus drag performance will move to a broader panel of judges after the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to rehear the case en banc. The decision vacates a prior 2–1 ruling issued in August that had temporarily blocked the university’s ban and found that the student organization behind the event, Spectrum WT, was likely to succeed on First Amendment grounds.
Spectrum WT, the university’s LGBTQ student group, was represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in its challenge. The group had planned to host drag performances as part of a fundraiser for The Trevor Project, a national nonprofit focused on suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth. The earlier panel majority determined that drag performances constitute expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment and that the campus venue in question functioned as a designated public forum, requiring strict constitutional scrutiny of any restrictions.
However, the earlier decision also drew a notable dissent. Judge James Ho questioned whether drag shows inherently qualify as protected expression and raised broader concerns about how courts define expressive conduct. He also warned that legal recognition of drag as protected expression might have cultural implications regarding gender identity and public norms.
The dispute stems from a 2023 decision by West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler to cancel the planned drag show. In a campus-wide message at the time, Wendler argued that drag performances “exaggerate aspects of womanhood” and are, in his view, disrespectful.
“Any event which diminishes an individual or group through such representation is wrong,” Wendler wrote. He described drag shows as “derisive, divisive, and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent.”
The case is unfolding amid a broader debate in Texas and other states over drag shows and public performances related to gender expression. Following the controversy at West Texas A&M, the Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents voted to prohibit drag performances across all system campuses. That systemwide ban is currently on hold after a separate ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal.
With the Fifth Circuit now set to hear the West Texas A&M case en banc, additional briefing is expected, and oral arguments are anticipated in early 2026. The full court’s decision could have implications for how universities regulate student expression and how First Amendment protections apply to drag performances on public campuses.
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