A years-long legal battle over whether a Wyoming college sorority should be forced to accept a biological male member has ended with a federal court once again siding against female students, sparking outrage among those who want the sisters’ safety on campus.
At the center of the controversy is Artemis Langford, a “transgender” student admitted into the Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) sorority at the University of Wyoming in 2022.
A group of six sorority sisters, dubbed “Saved Sisterhood”, in response sued their national sorority oversight organization, claiming that certain laws directly promised a “women-only” membership, and accusing leadership of bullying them into accepting Langford against their will.
The original lawsuit – and following legal complaints, which listed a series of detailed complaints about inappropriate behavior from Langford, including voyeurism, and allegedly walking around nude in front of sorority sisters- was dismissed last year by U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson.
Judge Johnson, a graduate of the Wyoming law school’s class of 1964 and nearly 86 years old, argued that private groups can define what a “woman” is, however they choose, and that the court would not impose a “circumscribed definition” on the sorority. In layperson’s terms, sororities at The University of Wyoming no longer have the legal right to recognize the biological differences between a true man and woman, according to the Judge.
While the plaintiffs appealed, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately upheld the dismissal, leaving the sorority with little recourse, according to Wyoming Public Media.
Women’s rights advocates say the decision represents a betrayal of female college students across the nation.
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who attended oral arguments in support of the sisters, blasted the sorority oversight committee’s refusal to define what a woman is.
“Kappa said there isn’t a singular definition of womanhood,” Gaines explained at the Save Sisterhood press conference held outside the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in May of 2024. “That should alarm every woman in America. If our spaces, our privacy, and our safety don’t matter here, then where do they matter?”
The plaintiffs’ attorney for the six sorority sisters, May Mailman, argued the case wasn’t just about identity, but also about contracts and fairness.
“Kappa’s directors have a simple duty. They must respect the clear terms of Kappa’s bylaws. They utterly failed to do so by ending the sorority’s women-only membership and threatening existing members to accept the unlawful change or else lose their own membership,” Mailman argued during the trial.
Yet, “mainstream media” largely celebrated Langford’s inclusion, framing him as a “brave woman” breaking barriers. MSNBC, for example, interviewed Langford as a trailblazer without acknowledging the discomfort and safety concerns of the women forced to share their private space. MSNBC appears not to have interviewed any of the other sisters or Greek community members about their feelings regarding Langford’s presence.
Langford remains the first, and only, male “sister” in the sorority’s history, but potentially not the last.
He is 6 feet tall and weighs around 260 pounds, according to an interview that two sorority sisters held with Fox News, where they described the threat Langford poses and the inappropriate sexual nature he has forced on the KKG sorority house.