Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler canceled a student-run drag show on Monday after comparing it to the portrayal of blackface.
In an email sent to students, faculty and staff, he expressed his belief that drag shows are offensive to women while citing his religious beliefs as justification for the cancellation in the email titled “A Harmless Drag Show? No Such Thing.”
“Does a drag show preserve a single thread of human dignity? I think not,” he wrote. “West Texas A&M University will not host a drag show on campus.”
“As a performance exaggerating aspects of womanhood (sexuality, femininity, gender), drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood. Any event which diminishes an individual or group through such representation is wrong.”
Wendler added that he would also prohibit blackface performances at the school, “even if told the performance is a form of free speech or intended as humor.” Students held protests on WTAMU’s campus, which will continue through Friday.
Blackface became popular in the U.S. after the Civil War. White performers played characters that degraded and dehumanized African Americans by blackening their skin with shoe polish, grease paint or burnt cork and painting on enlarged lips and other inflated features. These performances characterized Black people as lazy, ignorant, hypersexual and prone to stealing and cowardice.
The history of drag culture goes as back as far as Ancient Greece. Drag is a gender-bending art form in which a person dresses in clothing and makeup to exaggerate a specific gender identity.
Last month, Tennessee became the first state in the country to pass a law restricting drag shows and performers.
