The national sorority body Kappa Kappa Gamma has explained why trans woman Artemis Langford was allowed to join her sorority in 2022 in an ongoing legal case.
Six members of the University of Wyoming’s sorority chapter filed a lawsuit against the national group over Langford’s admission, alleging that he made them feel uncomfortable and that they should not have been allowed to join.
They alleged that Langford had looked at them with an erection after he was given access to the house.
But the national group’s attorney, Natalie M McLaughlin, said the word “woman” is “undefined” in the sorority’s bylaws and therefore does not prevent a trans woman from joining.
She said, “The word “women” is not defined in the Kappa bylaws, and that term “women” is not a term that has a singular definition.”
Six members of the University of Wyoming chapter of sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma filed a lawsuit against the national group over Artemis Langford’s admission, alleging that he made them feel uncomfortable and that they should not have been allowed to join.
He added: ‘So the requirements for membership in the statutes remain the same, there has been no amendment to the statutes, according to which a member must be a woman.
“However, that qualification is not defined in the statutes.”
Since the term “women” is not explicitly defined in the statutes, the question for the court is whether the national council was justified in interpreting it to include Langford.
McLaughlin addressed U.S. Appeals Judge Carolyn McHugh as part of a hearing to decide whether they could proceed with an appeal after the sisters’ case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne last year.
Johnson dismissed the lawsuit last year, ruling that he could not overturn the way the private, voluntary organization defined a woman and order her not to belong.
At the center of the lawsuit was the issue of defining a “woman,” as the sorority sisters argued that because the KKG’s governing documents define it as a women-only space, the organization broke its own rules by admit a biological man.
The sorority sisters who sued said Langford’s presence in the sorority house made them feel uncomfortable and alleged that Langford, while watching members enter the sorority house, developed an erection visible through his leggings. . Other times he has had a pillow in his lap.
They also accused Langford of taking photos of them at a sleepover and making inappropriate comments to them.
The appeal draws attention to transgender college students, as the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters in the lawsuit, their attorney and others planned a “save the sorority” rally at the courthouse before the hearing.
Attorneys for the six sorority sisters continue to argue that sorority leaders have ignored sorority bylaws, which they say should not allow transgender women to be members.
In the lawsuit, members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority chapter challenged the admission of Artemis Langford (rear, far left) by casting doubt on whether the sorority’s rules allow a transgender woman to enter the organization.
Johnson’s ruling gave too much deference to sorority leaders by allowing them to define a woman by membership requirements, sorority sisters argue in the appeal.
Unlike the original lawsuit, Langford is not included 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, sports, workplaces and elsewhere, while others push back.