4 March 13-19, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Draggieland Texas A&M drag show ban is a ‘betrayal,’ says queen who longed to be an Aggie. BY EMMA RUBY A fter six years of teasing her hair so high it brushes heaven, Jessy B. Darling has paid her drag dues. She has competed in countless late- night shows; when she was starting out on the drag queen circuit in 2019, Darling would leave class at Texas A&M University only to drive across the state just to make an open mic show. She is just starting to brush full-time sta- tus as a drag queen, and day shifts at an H-E- B in San Antonio supplements the income she receives from her shows. It was at H-E- B where, last Friday, she experienced the “worst lunch break ever.” Darling, 25, opened her phone to a bar- rage of news alerts announcing an official ban on drag performances at all 11 of the A&M University system’s campuses. The resolution was passed by the sys- tem’s Board of Regents unanimously, with one member absent. The ban describes a “hostile environment for women” created by drag, and says the performances promote a gender ideology contrary to the beliefs of President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The resolution directs the presidents of each A&M university to cancel any upcom- ing drag shows or else risk federal funding. Draggieland, an annual drag competition hosted at the College Station campus each year, was scheduled for March 27 and now has less than a month to find a new, off-cam- pus venue. “Part of me started fuming, and another part of me kind of went a little numb,” Dar- ling told the Observer. “I was just betrayed, you know? I’ve been an A&M girl since I was a baby. I was in A&M onesies. I always knew I was gonna go to that school no matter what.” The Black Sheep Darling grew up in Houston, raised by a family full of A&M fans. It was never a ques- tion whether she’d follow in their footsteps and attend the university — one of the few interests she shared with her conservative family. Growing up identifying as queer, Dar- ling often felt like the black sheep of her family. It was a feeling she experienced again when she started out in drag. She’s a cis-gendered woman, some people felt un- comfortable or confused by her interest in the art form. While cis or transgender women competing in drag is becoming more commonplace in larger hubs for the community, Darling was “on her own” in College Station. While the crowds in some local bars ap- preciated the emerging drag performances, some didn’t quite understand them. “It felt like a lot of the crowds were just kind of there for a circus,” Darling said. Darling eventually carved out a place for herself among the small but mighty College Station drag community. When an on-cam- pus drag pageant called Draggieland was started by a student group called The Queer Empowerment Council in 2020, Darling felt she and her fellow queens were finally mak- ing inroads at her university. “(Draggieland) definitely opened some more doors as far as exposing more drag to the community out in College Station and to the student body of Texas A&M,” Darling said. “It was so much fun … But every single year they tried to take us down and every single year they failed. So hopefully it will be the same this year.” Not everyone at A&M’s flagship campus was welcoming of Draggieland. Darling re- calls being “scared” to go outside the venue in its first year because “it felt like there were threats being made” by those who felt the show was inconsistent with A&M’s val- ues. In 2022, the year Darling was crowned queen of the whole shebang, Texas A&M of- ficials made an effort to distance the univer- sity from the event. Several student groups were forced to band together for a last-min- ute fundraising attempt after administrators denied the event access to student-run en- tertainment funding, which included profits from past shows. This year, as the Board of Regents has sent the event scrambling, Darling says something feels different. “Scrolling through Facebook, everybody’s posting about how we’re still not going to back down,” Darling said. “I feel like this year since it is the inauguration year, I feel like a lot of people are more upset this time than they were in previous years. I feel like there’s a lot more fire in everybody to fight this.” Freedom of Expression T he Texas A&M University system is already facing one lawsuit over an at- tempt to ban drag on campus, and last week, the Foundation for Individual Rights (FIRE) and Expression filed a federal lawsuit blocking Texas A&M University’s latest ban on drag performances. Last March, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler announced the cancellation of a student-run drag show, writing the “slapstick” performances were an attempt to “denigrate and demean women.” In an email sent to university fac- ulty, student and staff members, Wendler acknowledged that the performance should be allowed under the First Amendment, but said he nevertheless would not “condone” the behavior on his campus. In response to the show’s cancellation, the FIRE sued Wendler. The case is making its way through the court system. In a statement made in response to Fri- day’s Board of Regents decision, FIRE se- nior attorney JT Morris reiterated that drag falls under First Amendment protected ex- pression. “Whether drag or Bible study, public universities cannot ban or punish students’ protected expression,” Morris said. “Ban- ning speech because it might offend some- one else is viewpoint discrimination, the third rail of the First Amendment.” At Texas A&M’s flagship campus, Drag- gieland’s student supporters are also gearing up for a fight. Earlier this week, student or- ganizers with the Queer Empowerment Council announced a “Day of Drag” protest, planned for March 6. The group is encour- aging students to come to campus in their “best drag outfits,” to show their support for the art form. Draggieland organizers have also an- nounced they are looking to reschedule or relocate the event. Darling graduated from Texas A&M Uni- versity in 2022, so to some extent, Friday’s ban isn’t stopping her from continuing to advance in Texas’ drag community. On the other hand, Texans tend to be extremely sentimental when it comes to their state school alma maters. She wears her Aggie ring — the most sacred status symbol of aca- demic achievement for an A&M student — so religiously she feels “naked” without it. She even wears it when in drag. “I had a show last Friday night, and I thought about it. For the first time ever, I thought, ‘Do I really want to wear my ring tonight?’” Darling said. “I convinced myself [to wear it] because I earned that ring. But there was a part of me that was like I don’t even know if I want to advertise that I went to this school anymore.” ▼ TRANSPORTATION ‘UNRAVELING A LOT OF WORK’ DART WARNS OF DRAMATIC STAFF, SERVICE REDUCTIONS. BY EMMA RUBY D allas Area Rapid Transit (DART) au- thorities recently issued a dire warn- ing: years of post-pandemic improvements made to the system’s buses and rail lines could be negated if a series of state bills proposing cuts to the agency’s funding are approved. Two identical bills — House Bill 3187 filed by Matt Shaheen of Plano and Senate Bill 1557, filed by a coalition of state senators representing McKinney, Denton and Flower Mound — would allow DART member cities to reduce their contribution to the agency by 25%. DART funding currently relies on a 1-cent sales and use tax from the 13 North Texas cities included in the agency’s foot- print. The proposals come on the heels of sev- eral DART member cities asking to reduce their contribution to the transit group. If passed into law, the funding shift would be implemented Sept. 1. Dramatic Reductions in DART Staffing Levels In a briefing given to the DART board of directors, DART Chief Financial Officer Jamie Adelman said the proposed funding cuts could lead to a work- force reduction of 960 positions. Nearly 500 of those positions would belong to rail and bus operators, affecting the system’s service frequency and breadth. While Adelman said the number of DART police officers is not expected to be reduced, fare enforcement and transit secu- rity positions would likely be cut. The orga- nization would also likely return to night-only cleanings for light rail cars, Adel- man said. “What we’re doing here with the 25% is unraveling a lot of that work that we have done over the last three years,” Adelman said. “The cleanliness of the system has been a big attraction for riders and they’ve no- ticed it. … We really would be seeing a | UNFAIR PARK | Jessy B. Darling Jessy B. Darling was crowned Draggieland’s queen in 2022. Her winning performance was inspired by the children’s film Megamind, which follows a blue, bald super villain. >> p6
