Groups turn out in support of WT president's letter, actions on drag show
CANYON ― As student protests continue this week at West Texas A&M University in response to the university president’s decision to cancel a planned drag show, there has been a petition created in support of his actions.
A second online petition, which was started by Young Conservatives of Texas, states that it is fighting for conservative values and freedom. In a statement on the petition, the conservative youth organization states: “In a recent statement on behalf of West Texas A&M University, President Dr. Walter Wendler made the decision not to allow a drag show to take place on the WTAMU campus. Because of Dr. Wendler’s statement, supporters of this degenerate event are outraged and seek to overturn the university’s decision to stand for what is right. Please sign our petition to encourage Dr. Wendler and WTAMU to not be swayed by the angry voices of those who are opposed to the truth about drag shows. We are not alone in our fight for true freedom and we must support those who are seeking to defend it.”
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, more than 3,600 signatures had been added. At the same time, more than 9,300 have signed the earlier petition to save the drag show, started on change.org.
More:WT president's comments on drag show cancellation stir backlash
Amarillo GOP Chairman Dan Rogers sent out an email urging people top sign the conservative group's petition and to go to WT to support Wendler’s decision. The email asks people to support the president in his stand against evil: “If possible, show support at the Buffalo on Campus at 11 am today and tomorrow. The opposition to him has gone viral and is spreading on social media, but social media will not allow support for Dr. Wendler. So please sign the petition, show up, and forward this to all you know to let them know the people of West Texas will stand for what is right.”
Rogers was present at protests on campus Thursday and spoke about his group's opposition to the drag show on campus and support for Wendler.
“We think that Dr. Wendler did a fantastic job in the letter he wrote, standing up to these woke ideologies and the fact that what they are really doing is denigrating women and men I think,” Rogers said. “Our country is founded on Judeo-Christian values. We have a rule of law based on self-government. Self-government requires responsibility. It must work together to benefit all citizens of the community.”
More:Wendler commentary: A harmless drag show? No such thing.
Rogers continued: “To have something like this would be no different than having strippers out here on the commons; what is the difference?” Rogers said. "They are taking their lifestyle and trying to hoist it on the rest of the public. We believe that people should be able to live lives the way they want, and that is their business. If somebody wants to torture kittens in their back yard, that’s their business, but if they come out and do it in the public forum, that’s a problem.”
He also said that drag is offensive to women with the way they dress with outrageous costumes.
When asked about the president’s comments comparing blackface to drag, Rogers said that people taking issue with the statement are just trying to manipulate his words to justify their actions.
Some students have said the comparison of drag and blackface shows an ignorance to the origins of blackface, which used white actors to portray Black people in spaces that they were not allowed to perform, in a demeaning manner.
“I do not think Black people have ever been excluded from art; if you go back into the history of the United States, some of our best scientists such as George Washington Carver were Black,” Rogers said. “They just do not know history.” He said that he saw no evidence in history of Black people being excluded from the arts when asked to clarify.
“We stand firmly behind what Dr. Wendler has said,” Rogers said. “We believe in liberty and responsibility. We believe everyone should be treated equally, with everyone being treated equally, and we shouldn’t allow one group to denigrate other groups.”
Rogers said that he does not believe LGBTQIA+ groups should be allowed to put on any types of shows on campus.
“I do not think so, because it does not conform to the morality of society,” Rogers said. “What they want to do is their own business in their own private home, but when they bring it out in public, that shows they have an agenda and that is wrong.”
More:Students protest after WT president cancels drag show
In other developments, WT alumna Cassidy Smith-Toliver said on social media that she is pulling her monthly donations to both the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at WTAMU and the overall university fund and is instead giving those funds to The Trevor Project, the organization the WT drag show was planning to support. And according to reports from KAMR, an emergency meeting of the WT Faculty Senate was hosted Wednesday with "confidential" topics discussed, and a spokesperson stated it was “mostly an organizational meeting.”
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: West Texas A&M drag show cancellation draws petition supporting president
