A university students’ union has banned “drag”-themed parties, claiming the events “make a mockery” of transgender people.
Students at Aberystwyth University in Wales have been told not to dress up as the opposite gender for nights out, unless the event is designed to “celebrate” the LGBT community.
Students’ union officials said “drag socials” are "usually about members of random groups dressing up as the opposite gender in a general way that has the intention of being as funny as possible”.
Aberystwyth’s LGBT society, AberPride, said it supported the ban as most student drag nights make "a mockery of trans women and the trans femme experience”.
“Often cisgender (and frequently heterosexual) males will take drag socials as an opportunity to ridicule trans people, and AberPride will not stand by and accept that,” the society told student news site The Tab.
Students must “consider a range of angles and factors to ensure maximum inclusivity” if they wish to be exempt from the ban, an Aberystwyth students’ union spokesman said.
Drag usually involves males wearing make-up and clothing to present as females, and some universities have drag societies and charity drag catwalk events. Nights out will be severely restricted when students return to campus this month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Aberystwyth students’ union said “groups dressing up as the opposite gender as a general fancy dress theme should not be called drag” as this could be deemed offensive.
Several universities have outlawed fancy dress forms in recent years. Earlier this year, Oxford University’s students’ union urged students to avoid “highly gendered” themes such as “vicars and tarts” or “pimps and hoes” for fears non-binary students could be affected.
Guidance published by the body in January also warned against “culturally appropriative” party themes like “Cowboy and Indian” because it could leave ethnic minority students feeling “excluded, mocked or distressed”, and urged against “stereotype”-driven themes such as fox hunting.
Sheffield University’s students’ union urged students not to wear sombreros for Halloween 2019, warning such “cultural appropriation” could “mock or demean another person’s race, culture or disability”.
