Far-right Trump-appointed judge shoots down First Amendment protection

In Spectrum WT v. Wendler, students at West Texas A&M University have challenged campus president Walter Wendler's decision to cancel a drag show.

The event, presented by the group Spectrum WT, would have been a fundraiser for the suicide prevention group The Trevor Project. But a far-right federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump, Matthew Kacsmaryk, has ruled in Wendler's favor.

Kacsmaryk, known for his Christian fundamentalist views and severe social conservatism, is the judge who infuriated reproductive rights activists when he issued a ruling in favor of banning the abortion drug mifepristone.

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In his Spectrum WT v. Wendler ruling, Kacsmaryk wrote, "The First Amendment does not prevent school officials from restricting 'vulgar and lewd conduct' that would 'undermine the school's basic educational mission' — particularly in settings where children are physically present."

But according to The New Republic's Matt Ford, Kacsmaryk's ruling is "considerably out of step with the other federal courts."

Ford, in an article published on September 26, explains, "As Law Dork's Chris Geidner noted last week, federal judges in four other states have cited the First Amendment in rejecting drag show bans. But that part is not surprising: Kacsmaryk, who worked as a lawyer for a conservative Christian legal organization before Donald Trump elevated him to the federal bench in 2019, has often ruled against protecting LGBTQ Americans from discrimination."

Kacsmaryk, Ford argues, "appears to place his own moral views over Americans’ free speech rights."

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"Unfortunately for Spectrum WT," Ford reports, "they found themselves before Kacsmaryk…. Kacsmaryk concluded that drag shows as a whole have no First Amendment expressive purpose — a conclusion he reached only after twisting existing free speech precedents beyond recognition."

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Read The New Republic's full report at this link.