The drag debate continues; multiple beliefs converge on campus
West Texas A&M University students protest at the “Original Texans” sculpture fountain on March 22 2023. (Photo/Jo Early)
By Jo Early
Dozens of West Texas A&M University students, alumni and supporters gathered today at noon at the “Original Texans” sculpture fountain in response to the message WT President Walter V. Wendler sent Monday afternoon denouncing and canceling a campus drag show. March 22, 2023 was the second day of the week-long protest, and attendees carried signs and Pride flags as they chanted “love thy neighbor,” “L-O-V-E, room for all at WT,” and “we won’t back down, the whole world is watching now.”
Members of WT’s gay-straight alliance, Spectrum, were among those in attendance.
“It was meant to just be a celebration of gender, of femininity, of just everything that we think is good about the LGBTQ community,” Laur Stovall, vice president of Spectrum and a sophomore political science major, said. “And I’m very disheartened that Walter Wendler would go against that, and we’re also here to protest because he does not have the right to discriminate.”
The drag queens meant to perform at the campus show will now join a show hosted by the Amarillo Area Transgender Advocacy Group on April 1, according to Teresa Burnett, the group’s public relations chair.
“I’m hoping to accomplish shutting down the haters,” Burnett said of her presence at today’s protest. “Because there’s so many of them, especially the group [praying across the fountain] that are going to try to tell us that we’re going to hell, and we’re not.”
A group of students stood to the side of the fountain and spent the hour in prayer. Among them was Caleb Frick, a junior agricultural media communications major.
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Jamie Parchesky (left) and Hagen Lamn. (Photo/Jo Early)
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Teresa Burnett (Photo/Jo Early)
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West Texas A&M University students gathered in prayer at the “Original Texans” sculpture fountain on March 22, 2023. (Photo/Jo Early)
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“No, this is not a counter-protest,” Frick said. “We’ve been praying, walking and sitting a little bit because it’s not meant as a counter-protest. We’re just praying over everyone that’s coming around, and I guess really praying for peace with everyone is what we’re trying to do.”
President Wendler said in his message that drag shows are “derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent.”
Riley Harbour, a sophomore secondary theatre education major, disagrees. “Women are powerful,” Harbour said. “And I think that drag shows that. Watching drag makes me feel confident in myself, and it makes me feel powerful.”
Some attendees came to show support for President Wendler, such as Rick Lopez, a WT alumnus and community pastor.
“I stand with him,” Lopez said. “I wrote him an email. I told him I appreciated what he did, what he stands for, for his Biblical beliefs.”
Proceeds of the campus drag show were to be donated to The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth.
“Why is their suicide rate so high in that group?” Lopez asked. “Because of the demonic spirits that they have allowed into their lives. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy.”
The protesters finished their demonstration at 1 p.m., chanting, “drag is not hate, tomorrow at noon,” during their final walk around the fountain. Stovall said there are many ways for students to show their support.
“Sign our petition, come to our protest, support us on Instagram @wtamuspectrum,” Stovall said. “If you can give us a follow, we’re posting things there.”
President Wendler is not giving interviews and has no further comment.
A thinker • Mar 31, 2023 at 5:50 am
Part of the problem in this debate is that the issue about a drag shows is a symptom of the larger question–
What does is mean to be a human?
A Biblical worldview, which it seems that Dr Wendler generally subscribes to, would say that humans were made as a special act of creation to show God’s glory. He didn’t need to make them. He chose to generously bestow life, meaning, and his own image on them in order that they might worship and enjoy him. In short form, humans exist to reflect who God is and to celebrate God.
This idea sounds probably OK to many. It becomes controversial when the authority of God comes into view. Based on Genesis 1-2 (again the Biblical worldview) God called the creation of humans “very good”, he made them in his image as male and female, and he designed procreation and community to come through a man leaving his family and becoming married to one wife.
Many today chafe at so many of these ideas because, while they might like being loved by God, they don’t like the authority of God to tell them that he did not make a mistake in making them male or female when they feel differently in themselves about this. (A rejection of God’s authority to determine gender. ) Others says they that “love is love” and that they seek only “marriage equality ” when it comes to same sex romantic attractions. This view is in direct opposition with God’s design for how marriage works (monogamous man and woman for life) and what marriage is for (procreation, building families, man and wife sharpening one another to grow to be more in line with God’s character, serving as a living picture of Jesus’ love for the church).
I am certain that much of what I just said would offend many readers. But if you don’t understand the other side and you say you want to be “about love”, how can you love even the other side? It is hard work to understand and honestly care for others with whom you have deep disagreement.
Many people, not just those in the LGBTQIA, reject much of the Biblical viewpoint on gender and marriage. My original question, what does it mean to be human, is answered in large part through the view of marriage and gender. To be human is to be made in the image of God, for his glory, and there to be in loving relationship with him. The existence of marriage and gender as God defines them both in a Biblical frame answers this question.
So if you reject this view, what remains? If God did not create people male and female then the idea of gender is up for grabs. Maybe the binary is just made up by others and you don’t have to accept it. If God did not design marriage, then you are free to remake it however you see fit. At its core these “freedoms” are really a form of self-expression.
This is the fundamental disagreement for which our current drag show debate is just a symptom. Does being a human mean that you exist on God’s terms for his purposes, or is humanity just an accident of evolution in which case you can define “your humanity” according to your own desires? Your answer to that question probably leads directly to what you might say about the appropriateness of a drag show on our campus or anywhere else.
Bernadette • Mar 23, 2023 at 7:45 pm
I agree with Wendell. I’ll add that the transgender movement is mostly about money. It’s become a big issue because the powerful medical establishment makes billions from sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormones. What you are not told is that once you have a sex-change surgery, you can never have children and you will never be able to have an orgasm. The same holds true for puberty blockers…you will never be able to have children or experience orgasm after using them. And hormone “therapy” basically poisons you. Our bodies were designed to tolerate only certain types of hormones, and pumpling in hormones that do not belong there is ruinous to your health. People who believe that the best thing for people who think they should become the opposite sex is to “affirm” them with “gender-affirming care” have not been told the whole story. They have been lied to. This movement is all about money and exploiting people who need help accepting who they are and being happy with who they truly are, i.e., either a male or a female. A college campus, which is supposed to teach students fact from fiction based on reason is no place for vulgar “shows” of any type, which drag shows are. They are vulgar. Ultimately, the transgender movement uses vulnerable people as pawns in a huge money-making scheme. It is unethical and wrong. Wendell is right to prohibit such nonsense at an institution of higher learning. Brave and honest individuals, who are truly counter-cultural, will avoid such vulgar displays for the sake of the victims of the transgender movement, i.e., those individuals who are performing. Do not exploit them further by encouraging their behavior. Instead, encourage them to seek help in finding healthy ways to cope with their problems.