A federal judge has upheld West Texas A&M’s ban on a drag show by a student group, ruling Saturday that the university did not violate the First Amendment by blocking the event. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk found that Spectrum WT, the student organization, failed to demonstrate the 2023 drag show conveyed a specific message protected by the Constitution. The ruling effectively terminated a legal challenge set for appellate review later this week.

The decision illustrates ongoing disputes about student expression rights on campuses and shows varied judicial approaches to drag-performance bans at universities, with another federal judge recently rejecting a separate ban by the Texas A&M University System itself.

The ruling

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an Amarillo-based judge appointed by President Donald Trump, ruled Saturday that West Texas A&M did not violate the First Amendment when it blocked a 2023 drag show by the student organization Spectrum WT. The ruling eliminated the legal challenge scheduled for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which subsequently dismissed the case.

Kacsmaryk has drawn national attention for rulings favorable to Republican officials and conservative legal groups in abortion and LGBTQ rights cases.

The judge’s reasoning

In his ruling, Kacsmaryk found that Spectrum WT failed to demonstrate the drag show conveyed a specific message protected by the First Amendment. The group’s president testified that they were “not trying to convey a specific message” in the event.

The judge rejected the student organization’s argument that selling tickets to benefit LGBTQ causes and suicide prevention made the performance expressive. He cited past Spectrum events that included stripteases and simulated sexual activity, and noted that minors had attended those performances.

Kacsmaryk concluded the university could reasonably restrict the event in Legacy Hall, a campus venue open to students, on viewpoint-neutral grounds.

“Drag, by its ‘provocative,’ ‘transgressive’ nature, veers into sexualized content and Spectrum’s proven inability to control the content elides any argument that the 2026 show will be ‘appropriate,’” Kacsmaryk wrote in his opinion.

Spectrum WT plans to appeal the ruling. JT Morris, a supervising senior attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which represents the student group, said the decision “reflects many of the same erroneous legal conclusions” the judge reached earlier in the case and conflicts with Supreme Court precedent on expressive conduct.

Morris also noted that another federal judge rejected a separate ban attempt by the Texas A&M University System, which officials had sought based on views that drag performances were offensive or demeaning.

The conflicting outcomes demonstrate how federal judges are reaching different conclusions about drag performances on university campuses.