By Sedacca
A University of Wyoming sorority has hit back at members who complained about a trans woman being accepted into their local chapter – insisting the term “woman” is “unquestionably open to many interpretations.”
Seven sorority sisters from the Kappa Kappa Gamma sued the sorority in March, saying that the chapter violated its own rules by admitting Artemis Langford last year.
Six of the women then refiled the lawsuit in May after a judge twice barred them from suing anonymously.
The lawsuit claimed Langford’s presence in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house made some sorority members uncomfortable.
It alleged that the trans pledge would sit on a couch for hours while “staring at them without talking.”
On Tuesday, Kappa Kappa Gamma filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming that it is a “frivolous” attempt to kick Langford out for “their own political purposes.”
The motion also suggested the complaining members resign from the sorority if its “position of inclusion” is “too offensive” for them.
“Plaintiffs request the Court to insert itself into this controversial political debate and declare that a private organization can only interpret the term ‘woman’ using Plaintiffs’ exclusionary definition of biologically born females,” the motion, reads.
“Kappa defines its membership in its position statement adopted in 2015 as individuals who identify as women,” it continues.
“Plaintiffs cannot identify any bylaw, standing rule, or policy that prohibits Kappa from taking this position, and the term is unquestionably open to multiple interpretations.”
The sorority’s membership policy also mirrors those of the 25 other sororities in the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization for sororities in the US and Canada, according to the filing.
In a separate filing Tuesday in support of the sorority’s motion to dismiss the case, an attorney for Langford wrote that the lawsuit also fails to mention any wrongdoing or seek relief from Langford.
The Kappa Kappa Gamma members suing are flinging “dehumanizing mud” in order to “bully Ms. Langford on the national stage,” the attorney alleged in the filing.
“This, alone, merits dismissal,” the filing states. according to Langford’s filing.
The sorority members are seeking to have a judge void Langford’s Kappa Kappa Gamma membership voided and award unspecified damages.
In March, Kari Kittrell Poole, the sorority’s executive director, said the members’ complaint contains “numerous false allegations,” but did not specify them.
Kappa Kappa Gamma did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Langford could not be reached for comment.
