Presbyterian Nebraska College No Longer Employs Creator of Drag Show ‘Mass’

Presbyterian Nebraska College No Longer Employs Creator of Drag Show ‘Mass’

The left sure loves to mock Christianity with little performances like this.

The College Fix reports:

Drag show ‘Mass’ creator no longer teaching at Christian Nebraska college

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln doctoral graduate had no problem getting hired by a Christian college, despite a national controversy over his thesis project.

Hastings College, a Presbyterian school in Hastings, hired M. Joseph Willette to teach composition lessons during the last school year. However, a school official said he is not currently employed there this year.

All references to Willette were subsequently scrubbed after The College Fix started asking questions. However, his biography, archived by The Fix, specifically references his background. “With a doctoral cognate in musicology, their additional interests lie in the intersection of drag performance and gender identity in music and performance,” the bio states. Willette uses “they/them” pronouns.

Willette previously created a drag show “Mass” in 2025 to earn his doctorate in musical composition. Following College Fix reporting, and criticism from Lincoln Bishop James Conley, the school launched a secretive task force to review the matter. University leadership eventually apologized.

The performance, called the “Mass of Perpetual Indulgence,” drew widespread criticism both from the Diocese of Lincoln and national Catholic civil rights groups.

According to its abstract, the “Mass of Perpetual Indulgence” for chamber orchestra, electronics, soprano solo, and drag performer was written explicitly as an “appropriation of the traditional Mass,” intended “to bridge the gap between queerness and spirituality, to sanctify queer people and celebrate queer lives and communities.”

“Amalgamating musical styles ranging from disco to opera, art song to EDM”, the thesis states that the work “blurs the lines between the sacred and the profane.”

The piece utilizes traditional Catholic Mass prayers for its song names—including the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Credo, and Agnus Dei.

It features original text by librettist Caroliena Cabada responding to the “narrative of the Mass Ordinary from a queer perspective,” aiming to celebrate “the queer body as a holy body, queer community as a sacred communion, and carnal pleasure as a consecrated sacrament.” Cabada is currently an English instructor at UNL.

The libretto includes explicit references to the Catholic Sacrament, such as the line: “If there’s no wine, I’ll take your touch that feels like saving more than souls,” making parallels to the wine Catholics believe is transubstantiated into Christ’s blood.

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