The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a lawsuit filed by six members of a Wyoming sorority challenging the admission of a 6’2″, 260-pound trans-identified male, who the women have alleged has “watched” them undress with a visible erection. The University of Wyoming’s chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG), the complainants argued, caused the women “emotional distress in a personalized and unique way” and circumvented voting bylaws in their 2022 decision to admit Dallin ‘Artemis’ Langford as a member of the sorority.
The six women were appealing an August 2023 ruling from Judge Alan Johnson that declined their initial litigation on the basis that re-defining “woman” to include males was “Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bedrock right as a private, voluntary organization — and one this Court may not invade.” Judge Johnson dismissed the case without prejudice, but suggested the lawsuit could be refiled.
Two months prior, the sorority had filed a motion to dismiss the suit, calling it a “frivolous” attempt to eject Langford for “their own political purposes.” According to the motion, the women suing had been flinging “dehumanizing mud” in order to “bully Ms. Langford on the national stage.”
A 6'2 trans-identified male will remain at a sorority in Wyoming after a court dismissed a suit brought by 6 of its female members.
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 28, 2023
The women said Artemis Langford had been "watching" them undress in the sorority house, sometimes while erect.https://t.co/k4yJsIbQCD
Despite the indication from Judge Johnson in his dismissal that the complaint could be refiled, the sorority members’ latest appeal was dismissed on June 12 by a panel of judges on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction “due to the absence of a final order by the district court.”
Attorney May Mailman, representing the six sorority members, said in a statement that she disagreed that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case, adding: “Women deserve the camaraderie and safety of sororities, but unfortunately, it also appears they first need courts brave enough to say so.”
Mailman has made the argument that the national sorority council and president Mary Pat Rooney violated KKG’s bylaws, state that “a new member shall be a woman,” when they accepted Langford.
Other bylaws previously alleged to have been disregarded to secure Langford’s admission included dropping the requirement for a two-thirds majority approval vote via a convention of board members. This came in 2021 after KKG published a Guide For Supporting Our LGBTQIA+ Members which inserted a position statement that “Kappa Kappa Gamma is a single-gender organization comprised of women and individuals who identify as women.” As a Convention to approve this position statement was never held, the appeal stated, Langford’s acceptance into KKG was a violation of accepted policies.
Additionally, the initial complaint filed in March 2023 pointed out that Langford was accepted in KKG with a Grade Point Average (GPA) far below the admission requirement. The sorority’s policy was to only admit students whose GPA was 2.7 or higher, while Langford’s GPA was just 1.9. This indicated that Langford was “evaluated using a different standard” than female members were.
Legal representative for KKG, Natalie McLaughlin, last month argued that “the term ‘women’ is undefined in Kappa’s bylaws,” thereby insinuating that the lack of a definition of ‘woman’ as a female would have been needed for the sorority members to have a case. When defended its decision, KKG has insisted the word ‘woman’ is “unquestionably open to many interpretations.” Leadership for the sorority says the word ‘woman’ has evolved since the founding of the female-only organization 150 years ago.
The 2023 filing emphasizes that women who felt uncomfortable with Langford’s presence within the female-only sorority house were told: “since [Langford] identifies as a woman, you have no reason to feel uncomfortable,” and that such sentiments “do not subscribe to Kappa’s values of inclusion and diversity.”
Another issue presented within the legal challenge to Langford’s membership involved alleged harassment of the young women on the part of KKG. The lawsuit had alleged that sorority leaders had used “coercive” tactics during the process of voting on his application.
Although Langford required a majority vote to gain admission to KKG, one sorority member came forward to state that the female members were initially promised anonymity in the voting process, only to then be told they would have to identify themselves on the ballot form.
Last year, one sorority member came forward to state that the women were initially promised anonymity in regards to the voting process, only to then be required to identify themselves on the online ballot form. This resulted in women feeling “intimidated” with voicing their concerns about a male entering the sorority.
In a meeting held to discuss Langford’s potential candidacy, KGG chapter leaders, including the president and membership chair, allegedly dismissed the concerns of women who expressed discomfort.
“Regardless of what your political views are, our Kappa values are acceptance and kindness so if that is something that you disagree with, that’s not in line with Kappa values,” one member allegedly said at the time, according to the unnamed KKG member.
Another member allegedly said “If you vote no, it better be for issues with that new member or else it’s homophobic.”
Following the launch of their lawsuit, the women involved were similarly denied anonymity by the court, even as Langford’s identity was anonymized under the pseudonym “Terry Smith.”
As previously reported by Reduxx, the female KKG members involved in the lawsuit noted that there had been several disturbing instances of inappropriate behavior from Langford following his admission.
Court records revealed that the young women alleged Langford, who is 6’2″, had been voyeuristically peeping on them while they were in intimate situations, and, on at least one occasion, had a visible erection while doing so.
“One sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel … She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw [Langford] watching her silently,” one court document, which had anonymized Langford, reads.
“[Langford] has, while watching members enter the sorority house, had an erection visible through his leggings,” the suit says. “Other times, he has had a pillow in his lap.”
The initial complaint adds that Langford is “sexually interested in women” as evidenced by his Tinder profile “through which he seeks to meet women.” It is further alleged that Langford took photographs of the women while at a sorority slumber party, where he also is said to have made inappropriate comments.
“Smith repeatedly questioned the women about what vaginas look like, breast cup size, whether women were considering breast reductions and birth control,” the complaint alleges.
Two members of a sorority at the University of Wyoming have been expelled in apparent retaliation for opposing the admission of a trans-identified male.
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) November 14, 2023
Artemis Langford had been accused of "watching" Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters undress, once while erect.https://t.co/SvGwLvCpzw
Last November, two veteran members of KKG were expelled after expressing disapproval towards the admission of Langford. Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith had been alumni members of the sorority for over 50 years, but were removed in apparent retaliation for advocating that membership be restricted to females only.
The women’s removal came after they vocally opposed to the admission of the trans-identified male to the KKG chapter at the University of Wyoming. Levang and Tuck-Smith had also supported the lawsuit launched by members of the sorority to have Langford removed.
Despite their long history of supporting KKG, Levang and Tuck-Smith were voted out by the sorority’s national leadership on November 9. Levang had been the past Kappa Kappa Gamma National Foundation President, while Tuck-Smith was an active contributor and organizer.
Langford, who began identifying as a “lesbian” in 2017, has received sympathetic coverage in US mainstream media, with one MSNBC host labeling him “brave and unique.” In a profile by the Washington Post published last year, Langford was given a platform to accuse the sorority sisters involved in the suit of lying while he was compared to women who had historically been denied the right to a basic education.
Reduxx was the first to reveal that Langford’s given name is Dallin, and that he declared a transgender identity while participating in mock micro-nations in high school.
According to a micro-nations wiki entry: “On the 11th of June 2017, Dallin Langford announced to the micro-national community that she was transgender and was given a name change to Artemis Langford as reflection of this revelation. The Kingdom changed into a Queendom and from King to Queen.”