Texas Marching Band Trolls Rival School for Anti-LGBTQ Policy

School rivalries have often revolved around football, especially in Texas, but for one university, the marching band took aim at their rival school’s administration rather than the other students. And it’s for the best reason.

Baylor University has refused to acknowledge its Gamma Alpha Upsilon (“GAY” in Greek) group for eight years now, with the most recent denial coming in last month. As a result, the group has been unable to function as a normal school group would — they can’t advertise on campus, reserve meeting space, and get any funding from the school.

When Rice University’s band heard about this absurdity, they quickly ditched their plans for a fully Star Wars half-time show and swapped out their lightsabers for LGBTQ flags, all 70 of which were donated by Rice Students and alumni who were also appalled by Baylor’s anti-LGBTQ policy.

While Baylor refused to directly acknowledge the denial of Gamma Alpha Upsilon’s charter, they have apparently been directing people to a statement on the school’s “Human Sexuality” policy.

“The university affirms the biblical understanding of sexuality as a gift from God,” it says,” and insists that Baylor students “will not participate in advocacy groups which promote understandings of sexuality that are contrary to biblical teaching,” which of course includes pre-marital sex and “homosexual behavior.”

“We just think that’s kind of ridiculous,” said Chad Fisher, a spokesperson for Rice’s Marching Owl Band. “And so we all got to our show writing meeting Sunday, and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is like exactly what our show needs to be about. We absolutely need to call Baylor out for this.’”