Judge rules Wyoming sorority must allow 260 lb, 6' 2" tall male into women's only group, rejects sisters' lawsuit

Seven college students, sorority sisters at the University of Wyoming, brought suit against the national Kappa Kappa Gamma leadership over their policy of allowing a man into the sisterhood. That case has now been rejected by the US District Court for Wyoming, and the sisters in the sorority will be forced to allow the male entry to the women's group.

The male in question, Artemis Langford, reportedly watched the college girls undress, sometimes sporting an erection while doing so. The sorority sisters didn't like it, but the Kappa Kappa Gamma policy is that men who claim to be women are women enough to be part of the sisterhood.

Judge Alan Johnson dismissed the case, Westenbroek v Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. The ruling from Johnson was that it was the right of the group to redefine the word "woman" to include men. “Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bedrock right as a private, voluntary organization — and one this Court may not invade," the judge said, per Reduxx.

Johnson also declined to say what a woman is, a question that has plagued many in public life who do not want to be shamed for knowing that biological reality exists. "The University of Wyoming chapter voted to admit — and, more broadly, a sorority of hundreds of thousands approved — Langford," Johnson said.

"With its inquiry beginning and ending there, the Court will not define ‘woman’ today.

"The delegate of a private, voluntary organization interpreted ‘woman’, otherwise undefined in the non-profit’s bylaws, expansively; this Judge may not invade Kappa Kappa Gamma’s freedom of expressive association and inject the circumscribed definition Plaintiffs urge."

The legal documents, filed in the US District Court for Wyoming in March, state that Langford is a fully intact male who claims to be a woman. Langford was not living in the house, but he was reportedly spending a great deal of time there. The bathroom doors in the house do not have locks, the complaint stated.

“Plaintiffs and other sorority members describe the second floor as a private, safe space where young women can interact without concern that they will be on display for men,” reads the legal complaint.

The women who brought the suit claim that the leadership of Kappa Kappa Gamma changed the definition of the word "woman" to accommodate Langford, who stands 6' 2" and weighs in at 260 lbs.

The complaint stated that “No other member of Kappa Kappa Gamma has comparable size or strength” and that Langford is “sexually interested in women,” even having a Tinder profile “through which he seeks to meet women.”

In 2021, Kappa Kappa Gamma changed their rules for entry to the group, saying that "women and individuals who identify as women" would be allowed into the sorority. Members were also told to use "gender-neutral" language and to not make " assumptions about someone’s … gender identity." 

"Kappa Kappa Gamma is a single-gender organization comprised of women and individuals who identify as women," reads the guide from Kappa Kappa Gamma. Members are also supposed to use the terminology "'people of all genders' instead of 'women and men,'" and "'children' instead of 'boys and girls.'"

Langford was admitted to the University of Wyoming chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma in October 2022. He was admitted through a vote in which the majority of women affirmed him as a female and let him into their sisterhood. The sorority was founded in 1870.

Langford spoke about his entry to the ladies' sorority at the time, saying "I feel so glad to be in a place that I think not only shares my values, but to be in a sisterhood of awesome women that want to make history. "They want to break the glass ceiling, trailblazing you know, and I certainly feel that as their first trans member, at least in Wyoming history."

"Our Greek life here on campus, and I think nationwide as well," Langford said, "offers so many resources and so many opportunities and I am really glad that people can partake in that and be welcomed and not afraid they’ll be rejected. Things that shouldn’t matter like what their identity is or what their orientation is or what the color of their skin is."

"I am Artemis Langford," he said at the time. "I’m from Lander, Wyoming. I went to high school here. I love this state. I love this campus and community. And I just hope that they’d see me as the person I am and not the ideology that they perceive me as."

In their complaint, filed in March, they allege that "An adult human male does not become a woman just because he tells others that he has a female 'gender identity' and behaves in what he believes to be a stereotypically female manner."

"The Fraternity Council," the complaint continues, "has betrayed the central purpose and mission of Kappa Kappa Gamma by conflating the experience of men engaging in behavior generally associated with women."

The complaint details the experience of one sorority member who "walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel. She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw Mr. Smith [the pseudonym given in the complaint] watching her silently."

Langford also is alleged to wear leggings with a visible erection. For stating their discomfort, the sisters were called names like "bigot" and "transphobe." They said further that the admittance of Langford was after pressure from the national organization. Others in the community had also offered their concerns about the living situation, in which the large male was able to live in close quarters with the college women.

At a meeting held at the time of Langford's candidacy to the sorority, members spoke up in favor of Langford and overruled the discomfort of the women who did not want a man in the sisterhood. "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 reportedly said.

Langford's attorney Rachel Berkness celebrated the judicial decision, saying "The allegations against Ms. Langford should never have made it into a legal filing. They are nothing more than cruel rumors that mirror exactly the type of rumors used to vilify and dehumanize members of the LGBTQIA+ community for generations. And they are baseless."