⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fifth Circuit hears two appeals over drag performances at Texas A&M universities. At College Station, the Queer Empowerment Council had booked a campus theater for its annual drag show. In February twenty twenty-five, the system's Board of Regents restricted drag shows at campus event venues, and the university canceled the show. The student group sued. A district judge blocked the ban, allowing the planned performance to proceed, and university officials appealed. A related appeal concerns a drag show blocked by West Texas A&M's president. The universities say they are regulating discriminatory conduct; the students say officials are censoring their messages. A central question is whether campus venues are limited public forums: government spaces set aside for selected groups or purposes, where restrictions must be reasonable and must not disfavor a speaker's viewpoint. We hear the two cases together before a larger bench of circuit judges, rather than a usual three-judge panel, on September twenty-third, twenty twenty-six.

Texas A&M Queer Empower v. Mahomes (No. 25-20108) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued September 23, 2026.