by WorldTribune Staff, June 20, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Several members of the University of Wyoming Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority were unsuccessful in their appeal to have a 6’2″, 260-pound male who identifies as female kicked out of the sorority.
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 12 rejected the lawsuit filed by six members of the Wyoming sorority on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction “due to the absence of a final order by the district court.”
The women have alleged that Dallin “Artemis” Langford “watched” them undress with a visible erection, causing the women “emotional distress in a personalized and unique way,” Reduxx reported on June 16.
The sorority members 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.”
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 Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bylaws, which state that “a new member shall be a woman,” when they accepted Langford.
Natalie McLaughlin, legal representative for Kappa Kappa Gamma, argued last month 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 defending 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.
Reduxx previously reported that the female Kappa Kappa Gamma members involved in the lawsuit noted that there had been several disturbing instances of inappropriate behavior from Langford following his admission to the sorority.
Court records revealed that the young women alleged Langford 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.
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