Six Women Attempt to Oust a Trans Girl from Their Sorority

Artemis Langford has been targeted with dehumanizing, salacious stories and a right wing media frenzy, conceived of and promoted by six of her own Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters.

by Evan Urquhart

Six members of the University of Wyoming chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma have sued their own sorority, along with one member of it who is transgender, in an attempt to force the trans member out and bind the sorority by law into defining itself as cisgender only. It’s a story that has seen extensive coverage in right wing media, with the most recent round coming after a judge denied the plaintiffs’ request for anonymity. The newly unmasked plaintiffs, Jaylyn Westenbroek, Hannah Holtmeier, Allison Coghan, Grace Choate, Madeline Ramar and Megan Kosar, appeared on Megyn Kelly’s talk show shortly thereafter, smirking and making public the complaints found in the lawsuit, specifically that they don’t like it when the trans girl, Artemis Langford, looks at them, or when they see her in the hallways.

Assigned covered the right wing response to the lawsuit’s filing in late March. Our story includes more details about the lawsuit’s allegations, which hinge on portraying Langford as a sexual predator, but present no evidence of any specific wrongdoing or inappropriate behavior on her part. The most salacious allegation is that the plaintiffs believe Langford was at one point observed to have an erection through her clothing.

As the story has advanced one notable aspect has been the lack of any substantive statements in support of Langford. The Executive Director of KKG, Kari Kittrell Poole, told the Associated Press via email that the lawsuit “contains numerous false allegations.” An article in the University of Wyoming’s student paper, the Branding Iron, contains a statement from Langford’s lawyer calling the allegations “horrendous and baseless.” Beyond these two brief statements, however, there has been no mainstream reporting to shed light on Langford’s side of the story, and there have been no public statements of support for the young woman from anyone at KKG or at the university.

screenshot from the Branding Iron

An article in the Branding Iron about Langford’s entrance into the sorority back in October mentions that she was approved by a majority vote, as are all members. It includes hopeful quotes from Langford about making history, but includes a note of concern about detractors who might view her as representing an “ideology that they perceive me as.”

screenshot from the Associated Press

Outside of the University of Wyoming, at least, there’s evidence concern is growing over the treatment Langford is receiving from her fellow sisters.

Until her recent graduation Julia Rome served as the Vice President of Standards at Arizona State University’s chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Rome expressed scorn for the women suing to expel Langford, and says that if Langford had actually behaved inappropriately with other members there are internal processes that could have led to her discipline or expulsion with no need to resort to a court battle.

“I really feel for Artemis and I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I hope she knows that there are Kappas who are behind her,” Rome said. “I hope she has support over there from other sisters.”

Rome first heard about the situation in Wyoming from two of fellow KKG members, friends of hers who also graduated with the class of 2023. She describes concern among her group that this is happening, and confidence that the KKG establishment will support Langford and make sure there’s a good outcome. Rome shed some light on why there may not have been much public comment from Langford or those supporting her, explaining that as an alumna she’s able to speak freely, but speaking with the press is not allowed for current members. It is unclear how or whether this standard has been applied to the KKG members’ appearance on Megyn Kelly’s talk show, or to Langford, who was quoted in the student paper when she first entered KKG, but has not offered any comment on the lawsuit targeting her.

While at ASU, Rome herself came out as a lesbian and founded Lambda Gamma Beta Tau, a club to support LGBTQ+ people in Greek organizations at ASU. She described the experience of being LGBTQ+ in Greek life as improving, but that “historically Greek life is very heteronormative and cis,” leading to times when she and other LGBTQ+ members of sororities and fraternities have felt uncomfortable or been targeted by fellow members with slurs or harassment. 

Kelsey Roberts, a friend of Rome’s, also wished to share her support of Langford. Roberts was the chapter President of Alpha Delta Pi at ASU this past year, until her graduation earlier this month. 

“I felt so sad and disappointed when I heard [about Langford being sued] because I think the whole point of Greek life is to find community and sisterhood, “Roberts said. “If anyone is to understand what it means to be a sister it’s a trans woman, because she has a special appreciation and understanding of being a woman that I think there’s a lot to learn from.”

Roberts advocated for bylaw changes at her sorority’s grand convention which would have changed the language of the bylines from “sister” to “member” to be more inclusive of nonbinary sorority members, but the effort was unsuccessful. Both Robers and Rome were aware of female-assigned nonbinary sorority members, but did not personally know of any transfeminine members.

It’s rare, but some transgender men and women have been integrated into various sororities and fraternities, though obstacles to their inclusion can crop up suddenly and unexpectedly. Ryan Bishop was invited to join Chi Phi at Ohio Wesleyan, but the chapter’s decision to extend membership was subsequently reversed by their national organization. In 2016, over 40 members of the Tufts chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi, including the chapter President, quit in protest when a representative of the national organization warned them against extending a bid to a transgender woman who was pledging. The organization ultimately backpedaled, with the Daily Dot reporting that they “eventually permitted the trans woman a spot in the sorority.”

In the 2016 incident the national organization reportedly said that fears of potential lawsuits were what motivated them to try and dissuade the Tufts chapter from extending a bid to a trans woman.