Women Sue Their Sorority Because Trans-Identified Male Is Permitted In The Club And Its Female Spaces: "He Had An Erection Visible Through His Leggings"
Students at the University of Wyoming are suing their sorority because a trans-identified male has been permitted to not only join the club but also live in the sorority house, where he has access to all the female spaces.
When Lia Thomas, formerly known as William, started dominating women's collegiate swim as a male who identified as a trans woman, many people were shocked at how he was even permitted to participate on the women's swim team, let alone use the female locker room. Teammates said he would walk around with his male genitals hanging out, causing much discomfort and stress for the women. But Thomas was just the beginning. At the University of Wyoming, seven young women are suing their sorority for allowing a male to enter their club and live on site. He allegedly has a history of predatory, voyeuristic behavior.
Women Sue Their Sorority Because Trans-Identified Male Is Permitted to Live in Female Spaces
Artemis Langford is a 21-year-old student who writes for the University of Wyoming publication called the Branding Iron. He writes content related to politics, campus issues, and student organizations, and he hopes to become a lawyer one day. He apparently identifies as a trans woman and he was accepted into the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) in September 2022. Langford is 6'2 and weighs around 260 pounds. Reduxx reported that seven women in KKG are suing the sorority because they allowed Langford to join and live in the sorority house, where approximately 50 women live.
The legal complaint was filed on March 27 in the US District Court for Wyoming. “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 complaint read. “The Fraternity Council has betrayed the central purpose and mission of Kappa Kappa Gamma by conflating the experience of being a woman with the experience of men engaging in behavior generally associated with women.”
Langford has access to all the common areas of the sorority house; he doesn't live in the house currently but he is reportedly planning to move into the space sometime in the next year. He hangs out at the KKG house often and the women who filed the lawsuit allege that he sits on the second floor, where the main bathroom, communal showers, and private changing area are located. The women claim he is watching them in a voyeuristic way. In the court documents, Langford is referred to as Terry Smith.
“One sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel … She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw Mr. Smith watching her silently,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Smith has, while watching members enter the sorority house, had an erection visible through his leggings. Other times, he has had a pillow in his lap.”
The women also say that he has a history of making inappropriate comments, even asking the sorority sisters "what vaginas look like" and inquired about whether any of the women "were considering breast reductions." He has also been accused of watching women change clothes, sitting in the back of a yoga class to stare at the women stretch, and staying at a sleepover that he was supposed to leave at a certain time. Allegedly, Langford expresses his sexual interest in women and even has a Tinder account in order to meet women to date.
The national KKG sorority recently made a change in their guide in order to achieve more inclusivity. “Kappa Kappa Gamma is a single-gender organization comprised of women and individuals who identify as women whose governing documents do not discriminate in membership selection except by requiring good scholarship and ethical character," their 2021 Guide for Supporting Our LGBTQIA+ Members reads.
In the pictures that feature Langford with the sorority sisters, he looks completely out of place—and nothing like a female. But he told the Branding Iron that he is excited to make history as the first transgender individual in KKG.
“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,” Langford said in an interview. “They want to break the glass ceiling, trailblazing you know, and I certainly feel that as their first trans member, at least in the chapter in Wyoming history.”