Drag Course Offered At Texas Christian University Ruffles Republicans

Some Texas Republicans have come out against a course offered at Texas Christian University, The Queer Art of Drag. From the course listing:

Critical drag explores drag performance as an outlet for social critique, pedagogy, and queer world making.

You can always tell it's an academic course by the word "pedagogy".

You may ask yourself why a Christian University would have a course like this. I think it's the wrong question, but I'll answer it anyway. This is a Women's and Gender Studies course taught in conjunction with local LGBTQ outreach organizations and Westside Unitarian Church. While it is an examination of the history and social impact of drag, it appears to me to also be a reconciliation between accepting churches and the folks who have been deeply excluded and marginalized by other Christian organizations.

Much of the critiques offered by Republicans is that classes like these will not help anyone get a job. What a depressing way to view college and education. Learning should not simply be a machine that hammers and molds you to the #1 Best Employee. Last I checked, human beings have souls. And trust me, you get plenty of your "core" coursework done in college- whether you go for business or math or whatever.

Also, have Republicans forgotten what electives are? I took an elective on Norse Myths and Legends, it didn't make me worship Odin, but it did make me more aware of Scandinavian culture. And here we have it, the real point of this course. But again, not the real question we should be asking.

The real question is why some Republican lawmakers care what a private University is offering in 2023- when this course has been available since 2021.

I have an answer for that, too. It's simply the outrage du jour. Without Roe v Wade to rile up their base, their victory left them without a "worthy" fight. So they picked the most popular and visible and seemingly vulnerable group available to bully- the drag community.

Another question you should be asking is- what happens after they "win" this fight? Then a new target will be named, and the outrage stirred, and really, truly it could be you or someone you love. I mean, we've all read that book or seen that movie, right? Right?

I am no Democrat. I don't have a political dog in this race. I'm just sick of the politics of bullying. Which is what this is. Where are all the fiscally conservative Republicans with real, productive policy-making? Perhaps I just can't hear them over the noise of their colleagues. Maybe they should be louder.

Funny how no one was concerned for the children five years ago. Funny how the children are very often victimized by family members and leaders of social groups that have nothing to do with drag. Funny how the only sexually explicit drag shows I've ever seen have been at 1 a.m. at a bar- a time when any straight bar is just as rife with debauchery because it's a damn bar.

I understand that parents want to "protect" their children. But your children at college are adults. The best and only real way to protect them from influences you see as negative is to have an open and accepting dialogue with your children. But that takes a lot more work than sending an angry email, doesn't it?