Lawsuit, Allegations, Target Trans Sorority Member
The University of Wyoming chapter of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority is facing a lawsuit from current and former members who object to making the sorority trans inclusive.
by Evan Urquhart
a stock image of members of a sorority
Last September the University of Wyoming chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma admitted Artemis Langford, making her the first trans woman ever admitted into a sorority at the University, according to the school’s newspaper. At least one current member of the University of Wyoming chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, in conjunction with as many as six former members, have submitted an anonymous legal complaint that seeks to compel the sorority to eject Langford on the basis that transgender women should not be eligible for membership in the women’s only organization.
UPDATE 5/29/2023: In mid-April the plaintiffs were denied a request for anonymity by the presiding judge. The six remaining plaintiffs are all current students and members of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Their names are Jaylyn Westenbroek, Hannah Holtmeier, Allison Coghan, Grace Choate, Madeline Ramar, and Megan Kosar.
The right wing press first ran stories objecting to the inclusion of Langford soon after her membership was announced. One October article in the National Review relied on a single anonymous source within the sorority, who was quoted as denigrating Langford’s appearance as insufficiently feminine and repeatedly misgendering her. The source claimed to know of additional members who felt similarly to her, but that they were not willing to go on the record. This source’s complaints also included the charge that the vote on Langford’s admission was not sufficiently anonymized, which she speculated might have made members reluctant to oppose Langford’s inclusion.
screenshot from the National Review
The lawsuit seeking to force KKG to remove Langford, who is referred to with a pseudonym in court docements, was submitted to the U.S. District Court for Wyoming according to the school paper. The plaintiffs argue that the decision to admit Langford “has undermined the sorority’s core purpose by comparing the experiences of women with those of transgender individuals.”
Cowboy State Daily, a Wyoming news website owned by a former Republican strategist, reported at length on allegations included in the lawsuit. Some of these claim Langford engaged in inappropriate behavior at the sorority house, for example claiming the trans woman sang “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” late in the evening during a sorority event in December. The majority of the incidents described seem to amount to Langford having been present in sorority spaces with other members on various occasions.
screenshot from Cowboy State Daily
Other right wing outlets, such as Fox News, have focused on similar details, many of which tend to insinuate some sort of sexual perversion, but without pointing to any specific wrongdoing. Most salaciously, the complaint includes the belief of the complainants that Langford was once observed with an erection showing through her clothing.
Sororities and fraternities are allowed under U. S. law to be single sex organizations. At issue in the lawsuit is whether members have a right to demand their sorority or fraternity adhere to a definition of single sex which excludes transgender members.