WT president's comments on drag show cancellation stir backlash

CANYON — On Wednesday, students of West Texas A&M University (WT) continued their protests in response to WT President Walter Wendler cancelling a planned drag show on campus. Wendler, in his remarks, said that a drag show was divisive and misogynistic with its attitudes toward women and compared it to blackface.

As previously reported, WT Spectrum, a student organization for LGBTQIA+ students and allies, was recruiting for the proposed drag show. Open and Affirming Congregations of the Texas Panhandle's petition online had more than 7,400 signatures as of 2 p.m. Wednesday at https://www.change.org/p/save-the-wtamu-drag-show .

Protests began on campus Tuesday after Monday's announcement and are planned throughout the rest of the week. Students and members of the community spoke out about Wendler's comments and his decision to ban the show on campus.

Amarillo mayoral candidate Sam Burnett, president of the Amarillo Area Transgender Advocacy Group, weighed in on the university’s decision to cancel a drag show.

More:Students protest after WT president cancels drag show

Asked what he thought of WT president's statement, Burnett said it was based in ignorance.

“I laughed at his comment; none of the things he spoke about are true,” Burnett said. “For him to bring women into it and speak for women is absurd. All the women I have talked to in the last 24 hours say they do not have a problem with drag.”

More:Wendler commentary: A harmless drag show? No such thing.

Burnett said that Wendler's comments about being undignified to women and misogynistic speak to a lack of understanding of drag.

“He needs to educate himself instead of making despicable comments,” Burnett added.

Burnett said that the event had been in the works for a while, and to get a cancellation a week out from the show's date is a purposeful act. He said that the university president had nothing to say about the show until this close to it just shows that he does not respect a segment of the student population.

“The fact that they put so much work and effort into something for such a good cause as the Trevor Project, for them to do this a little over a week before it was supposed to happen, is just unfair to the students,” Burnett added. “He did this on purpose.”

Burnett's group has an LGBTQIA+ event being held on April 1 at Paul Lindsey Park in Canyon that will feature a drag show that he says students can come and participate in.

“We have already reached out to students to tell them they are welcome to join our celebration in the park,” Burnett added.

Burnett said that this attack on drag shows ignores the actual history of drag. He said that Wendler's religious views should have no impact on the rights of his students to express themselves, especially when it hurts no one else.

“Drag has been around since the 1700s; it started when women were not allowed to perform as actors and men dressed as women,” Burnett said. “That we are having this conversation now is absurd. When he chose to take his job, he knew what the rules were, and if he cannot follow them, he should find himself a new job.”

Melodie Graves, president of the Amarillo chapter of the NAACP, said that she felt that Wendler’s comments showed a lack of understanding by comparing drag and blackface.

“His comments are erroneous with his conflation of drag to blackface,” Graves said. “He is attempting to compare apples to oranges with the intent and background of both of these expressions of speech. Originally, blackface was used to degrading African Americans in spaces they could not perform, while drag shows celebrate womanhood.”

She said that the WT president's personal views should not be the guiding factor when you are dealing with students from diverse backgrounds. Wendler's comparison of blackface and drag, Graves felt, shows that he is out of touch with the real history of both Black and LGBTQIA+ students.

“As a president of an institution, he should be a voice for every student and to make them feel included in the environment,” she said. “While I am a Christian, I do not believe you should be able to throw the Bible around as a way to alienate a segment of the student population, especially when there are so many issues with mental health that many face. When you are in a position of leadership, you have to be extremely careful of the message that you convey to the people that you are supposed to represent to be OK in the skin that they are in."

Angelica, a second-year WT student, said that she was bothered by the president’s reaction and insensitive comments regarding the planned drag show.

“His reasoning about it denigrating women is not reality,” she said. "As the president of the university and as a man, I feel like he does not have the understanding to speak on women’s behalf on this issue."

She said that his personal religious reasoning has no place in a public university to impose those beliefs on students who may have different beliefs. She also said that there is a separation in the rules of the university and the country and one’s religious beliefs. Being open and accepting to all faith and beliefs, she feels, should be the standard.

“If you are going to expect students to follow the university rules, you should practice what you preach,” she added. "We are here to show what drag actually is and not what people think it is.”

When asked if she felt that drag was denigrating to women, Angelica said that shows a lack of understanding of drag.

“Drag is an appreciation of women and not anything malicious at all," she said.

Coco Dietz, a WT alumna, expressed that she is extremely disappointed in the comments from the WT president. She felt his comments calling drag misogynistic come from a place of ignorance of the art form.

“We are here to push back against his uniformed comments,” Dietz said. "His comparison to blackface and calling it misogynistic shows a deep lack of education of what drag is."

She emphasized that the university president’s bias and prejudice should not dictate what students can do. Dietz also said that other students should be supportive of the rights of others who want to express themselves.

“We have never come into other’s organizations to shut them down because of a personal bias or prejudice, so you cannot come here and shut ours down and not expect pushback,” Dietz said. "We are demanding to be heard and do not want to be treated differently from any other group just because of the president’s personal feelings.”

Dietz felt the president was being disingenuous in his letter, using his own bigotry to represent himself as protecting women, when in reality he was doing no such thing.

“He is acting like this is a private Christian university, when we are a public university,” Dietz said. “He claims to speak for women, but cited not one comment from a woman about drag.”

The controversy around the university president’s words has already led to one alumnus, Reverend Nathan Russel, to cease his recurring contribution to the WT Alumni Association and rescind his future estate donation gift to the university of $100,000.

In a letter to the university obtained by the Amarillo Globe-News, Russel states:

“I have come to the regrettable conclusion that the telos of West. Texas A&M University no longer resonates with the values that I uphold. President Wendler's column is incendiary, racist, homophobic, transphobic, and an egregious affront to me as a clergy person who is unapologetically gay.”

Russel continues with his critique of Wendler’s letter: “President Wendler has tarnished the reputation and image of a university that played a critically important role in my understanding of self.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: WT president's comments on cancelled drag show stir backlash