On an average school day, harried students at the University of Texas at Austin rush across Speedway to get to class, stopping only to dodge a dangerously fast Lime scooter. On Monday, however, several students made a pitstop to get their makeup done by one of over a dozen drag performers, each in vibrant outfits and elaborate makeup of their own. The students then continued to class, a little more colorful and sparkly than before.
The performers showed up—some even calling out of their day jobs—for the student-run initiative called the Day of Drag, which encouraged students to show up to class in drag to protest the University of Texas System’s ban on drag performances. As university systems across the state have enacted similar bans and the Texas Legislature continues to attack LGBTQ+ rights, students are shouldering the weight of advocating for their rights.
On March 18, the UT System Board of Regents said its universities cannot sponsor or host drag shows in their facilities The decision also followed a similar ban from the Texas A&M System Board of Regents on February 28 banning drag show events on campus. The Texas A&M resolution cited President Donald Trump and Governor Greg Abbott’s executive orders that prohibit using funding for “promoting gender ideology.” The resolution also said drag performances could “create or contribute to a hostile environment for women.” On March 28, the University of North Texas system followed suit and paused drag performances on its campuses.
Texas A&M’s ban came just ahead of the scheduled date for Draggieland, an annual drag show hosted by the student-led Queer Empowerment Council. After first hearing about the new policy, members of the council, including Alex Gonce, the event chair and treasurer, began fielding questions from reporters and administrators about their event being banned. “We were completely blindsided,” Gonce told the Texas Observer. “It was very scary and all at once.”
Within a week, the council teamed up with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a civil libertarian legal group that advocates for free speech on college campuses, to sue A&M for infringing on their First Amendment rights. A federal judge temporarily blocked the university’s policy on March 24. In her ruling, Judge Lee Rosenthal suggested the students would prevail in their free speech claim and wrote: “Anyone who finds the performance or performers offensive has a simple remedy: don’t go.”
Three days later, Draggieland went on as planned at the A&M campus in College Station.
Gonce first joined the council as a representative for a different student organization, Transcend. They said they enjoy being able to do more activism work as part of the Council, because Transcend focuses more internally on resources for its members. “Having a central place to go to make our voices heard has been really good,” Gonce said.
At UT-Austin, Isabella Thomas, a government and Spanish junior, didn’t see any advocacy groups organizing after UT announced its own ban, so she took action by planning the Day of Drag. She later learned other groups tried to challenge the ban but learned it would be more difficult to fight than A&M’s because the UT System did not publish a written resolution—Board Chairman Kevin Eltife merely announced the policy in a written statement.
Thomas decided to have students go to class in drag because the decision, while vague, explicitly forbade the university from hosting drag performances, not drag altogether. “We’re definitely pushing the line a little bit,” Thomas told the Observer. “But we’re not actually crossing the line.” Thomas got the event approved by the Office of the Dean of Students, which handles requests for campus events.
A steady stream of students came by to get glammed up by the artists, each with their own strong personal style. Some students walked away with faces sporting pastel glitter and rhinestones, others with strong contours in deep blue or purple. Graduate student Savvy Cornett said they were looking forward to wearing their full face of makeup, complete with sparkly blue eyeshadow, to the animal physiology class they TA for. “I’ve always wanted to have my makeup done via a drag queen, so this is a dream come true, and I’m so excited to go to class later” Cornett said.
Last session, Abbott signed Senate Bill 12, which would have criminalized “sexually oriented” drag performances performed in front of minors. A federal judge ruled the bill unconstitutional in September 2023.
Thomas has found that sense of community and hope through drag performances. In particular, she said, she goes to drag queen Brigitte Bandit’s weekly “LegiSLAYtion & Liberation” show in downtown Austin, which makes her feel less alone.
“I feel hopeful for a future, which is something that not a lot of people can say and probably something that I wouldn’t say all the time,” Thomas said. But, during the two-hour show each Tuesday, “I feel hopeful. I feel like we are going to get past this.”
Bandit came to the event in pink, blue, and white chaps—the color of the trans flag—danced to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” and read from drag icon Sasha Velour’s memoir, The Big Reveal, as part of a drag queen story hour. “Whenever they try to ban drag, we just put students in drag, bitch,” Bandit said at the event. “Ain’t nothing illegal happening here. We’re just having fun.”
This session, the Senate passed Senate Bill 18, which would cut funding from public libraries that host events in which people “dressed as the opposite gender” read a story or book. Republican legislators have also targeted LGBTQ+ rights in higher education, building on last session’s passage of Senate Bill 17, which prohibited DEI offices and practices and shut down spaces for queer students like the Gender and Sexuality Center at UT-Austin.
Now, Thomas said there’s more pressure on students to take the lead. “I’m happy we haven’t given up,” Thomas said. “[But students are] having to take on this extra work to continue providing space for their community.”
At A&M, Gonce said the Queer Empowerment Council had to take on several initiatives formerly hosted by its Pride Center, like Lavender Graduation, after SB 17 forced the center to close.
The Lege has also continued its crusade against “DEI” in higher ed. Senate Bill 37, authored by Republican Senator Brandon Creighton, would prohibit courses that “require or attempt to require a student to adopt a belief that any race, sex, or ethnicity or social, political or religious belief are inherently superior,” which would likely target gender and ethnic studies courses.
Zoey Gonzales told her friend she didn’t care if she was late to class—she was getting her makeup, dramatic red and pink winged eyeshadow, done. “This is way more important than my classes right now,” Gonzales said. “If I myself as a trans person won’t be here to stand for my rights, then who will?”
Arwyn Heilrayne, who helped organize the event, danced around in a “Moo Deng Says Trans Rights” shirt, with blue eyeshadow and deep pink blush and glitter on her cheeks. She said she contributes to student organizing with her energy. “It’s so hard in this world to have fun sometimes,” Heilrayne said. “Movements are only sustained through joy, So we have to have joy as much as possible.”
Thomas, the Day of Drag organizer, said events like these are important to foster a sense of community. “Even though this is most likely going to be a one-off event, celebrating the artistic value of drag, just celebrating queerness on campus, we want students to continue to plug in with the queer community,” Thomas said. “Having support and knowing that there are other people like you that love you unconditionally is just so incredible.”
