The national body of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority has explained why trans woman Artemis Langford was allowed to join her brotherhood in 2022 in an ongoing legal case.
Six members of the University of Wyoming The fraternity's chapter filed a lawsuit against the national group over Langford's admission, claiming it made them feel uncomfortable and should not have been allowed to join.
They alleged that Langford had stared at them with an erection after giving him access to the house.
But the national group's lawyer, Natalie M McLaughlin, said the word “woman” is “undefined” in the brotherhood's bylaws and therefore did not prevent a trans woman from joining.
He said, “The word 'women' is not defined in the Kappa bylaws, and this term 'women' is not a term that has a singular definition.”
Six members of the University of Wyoming chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity filed a lawsuit against the national group over the admission of Artemis Langford, claiming that they were inconvenienced and should not have been allowed to join yes
He added: “So the membership qualification in the bylaws remains the same, there has been no change in the bylaws which is that a member must be a woman.
“This qualification, however, is not defined in the statutes.”
Since “women” is not explicitly defined in the statute, the court's question is whether or not the national board was justified in construing it to include Langford.
McLaughlin was addressing federal appeals court judge Carolyn McHugh as part of a hearing to decide whether they could proceed with an appeal after the sisters' case was dismissed by a Northern District judge American Alan Johnson in Cheyenne last year.
Johnson dismissed the suit last yearruling that it could not overturn how the private, voluntary organization defined a woman and ordered her not to belong.
At the heart of the lawsuit was the question of defining a “woman,” as the sorority sisters argued that because KKG's governing documents define it as a women-only space, the organization broke the its own rules for admitting a biological man.
The sorority sisters who sued said Langford's presence in their sorority house made them feel uncomfortable, and alleged that Langford, while watching members enter the sorority house, had an erection visible through her leggings. Other times, he has had a pillow on his lap.”
They also accused Langford of taking pictures of them at a slumber party and making inappropriate comments.
The appeal brings new attention to transgender college students, as the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters in the suit, their attorney and others planned a “save the sisterhood” rally in court ahead of the hearing.
Attorneys for the six sorority sisters continue to argue that sorority leaders have ignored the sorority's bylaws, which state they should not allow transgender women to be members.
In the lawsuit, members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity chapter challenged the admission of Artemis Langford (back, far left) by questioning whether the fraternity's rules allow a transgender woman into the organization.
Johnson's ruling gave too much deference to sorority leaders by allowing them to define a woman according to membership requirements, the sisters argue on appeal.
Unlike the original lawsuit, Langford is not included in the appeal.
The national Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and its president, Mary Pat Rooney, are the current defendants.
The case at Wyoming's only public four-year university has drawn widespread attention as transgender people fight for more acceptance in schools, athletics, the workplace and elsewhere, while others retract.
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