The national sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma has explained in an ongoing lawsuit why trans woman Artemis Langford was allowed to join their sorority in 2022.
Six members of the University of Wyoming fraternity filed a lawsuit against the national group over Langford’s admission, claiming he made them feel uncomfortable and should not have joined.
They alleged that Langford looked at them with an erection after gaining access to the house.
But attorney for the national group, Natalie M. McLaughlin, said the word “woman” is “undefined” in the fraternity’s bylaws and therefore does not rule out the possibility that a trans woman could join.
She said, “The word ‘women’ is not defined in Kappa’s bylaws, and that term ‘women’ has no clear definition.”
Six members of the University of Wyoming’s Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter have filed a lawsuit against the national group over Artemis Langford’s confession, claiming he made them feel uncomfortable and should not have joined
She added: “So the membership qualification in the statutes remains the same, there has been no change in the statutes, which is that a member must be a woman.
“However, that qualification is not defined in the statutes.”
Since “women” are not explicitly defined in the statute, the question for the court is whether or not the National Council correctly interpreted it to include Langford.
McLaughlin addressed federal appeals court judge Carolyn McHugh as part of a hearing to decide whether they could appeal after the sisters’ case was dismissed last year by U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne.
Johnson dismissed the lawsuit last year, ruling that he could not override how the private, volunteer organization defined a woman and ordered that she not belong.
At the heart of the lawsuit was the issue of defining a “woman,” as the sororities argued that because the KKG’s governing documents define it as a space exclusively for women, the organization violated its own rules by admitting a biological male to leave.
The sorority sisters who sued said Langford’s presence in their dorm made them feel uncomfortable — claiming that Langford “while watching members enter the dorm, had an erection that was visible through his leggings.” Other times he’s had a pillow on his lap.’
They also accused Langford of taking photos of them at a slumber party and making inappropriate comments to them.
The appeal brings new attention to transgender students, as the Kappa Kappa Gamma sororities in the lawsuit, their attorney and others planned a “save sisterhood” meeting at the courthouse before the hearing.
Lawyers for the six sorority sisters continue to argue that sorority leaders have ignored sorority bylaws, which they claim should not allow transgender women to be members.
In the lawsuit, members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority challenged the confession of Artemis Langford (back, far left) by casting doubt on whether the sorority’s rules allow a transgender woman to join the organization.
Johnson’s ruling gave too much deference to sorority leaders by allowing them to define a woman among membership requirements, the sorority sisters argue on appeal.
Unlike in the original lawsuit, Langford is not involved in the appeal.
The national sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and its president, Mary Pat Rooney, are the current defendants.
The case at Wyoming’s only four-year public university has drawn widespread attention as transgender people fight for greater acceptance in schools, athletics, the workplace and elsewhere, while others push back.