AUSTIN, Texas — Drag performances will no longer be permitted at the University of Texas at Austin’s campuses and independent institutions.
The decision was shared by UT’s System Board of Regents chairman Kevin P. Eltife, who told KVUE that “university facilities, supported by taxpayers, will not serve as venues for drag shows.”
The decision comes less than a week after a North Texas judge sent a letter to UT’s System Board of Regents pushing for the ban.
“Rather than promoting anything to do with education, drag shows and related events denigrate women,” Tarrant County judge Tim O’Hare wrote to the university. He wrote that these performances “highlight men reducing the perception of women to stereotypes and body parts.”
In his letter, O’Hare cited an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second inauguration. The order states that federal funding is paused for programs that promote “gender ideology,” among other changes impacting gender identity.
O’Hare stated that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also sent a letter to the university instructing it to follow the executive order.
Changes to drag performances, DEI initiatives at Texas universities
UT isn’t the first Texas university system to ban drag shows from its institutions. This year, Texas A&M also halted drag performances from all 11 of its campuses statewide.
Back in 2023, Senate Bill 12 was passed by Texas lawmakers banning drag shows, especially around children. That same year, it was considered unconstitutional by a U.S. judge.
These changes come just over a year after Senate Bill 17 went into effect in Texas, banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at public universities statewide. Last year, over 50 UT Austin employees in DEI positions were laid off by president Jay Hartzell.
Statement from UT’s System Board of Regents
Eltife’s full statement to KVUE regarding UT’s drag ban can be found here:
“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.
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 university did not specify what “further action” would imply.