Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority reveals bizarre reason why 6ft 2in 200lb trans woman was allowed to join University of Wyoming's chapter

The national Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority body has explained why trans woman Artemis Langford was allowed to join their sorority in 2022 in an ongoing legal case.

Six members of the University of Wyoming chapter of the sorority brought a lawsuit against the national group over Langford's admission, claiming he made them uncomfortable and shouldn't have been allowed to join. 

They alleged Langford had leered at them with an erection after being given access to the house. 

But attorney for the national group, Natalie M McLaughlin, said that the word 'woman' is 'undefined' in the sorority's bylaws and therefore did not preclude a trans woman from joining. 

She said: 'The word "women" is undefined in Kappa's bylaws, and that term "women" is not a term that has a singular definition'. 

Six members of the University of Wyoming chapter of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority brought a lawsuit against the national group over Artemis Langford's admission, claiming he made them uncomfortable and shouldn't have been allowed to join

She added: 'So the membership qualification in the bylaws remain the same, there has been no amendment to the bylaws which is that a member must be a woman.

'That qualification however is undefined in the bylaws.'

Given the 'women' is not explicitly defined in the bylaws, the question for the court is whether or not the national council was justified in interpreting it to include Langford. 

McLaughlin was addressing federal appellate court judge Carolyn McHugh as part of a hearing to decide whether they could proceed with an appeal after the sisters' case was dismissed by the U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne last year. 

Johnson threw out the lawsuit last year, ruling he could not override how the private, voluntary organization defined a woman and order that she not belong.

At the heart of the lawsuit was the issue of defining a 'woman', as the sorority sisters argued that because KKG's governing documents define it as a space exclusively for females, the organization broke its own rules by admitting a biological male

The sorority sisters who sued said Langford's presence in their sorority house made them uncomfortable - and alleged Langford '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.' 

They also accused Langford of taking photos of them at a slumber party and to have made inappropriate comments to them. 

The appeal brings fresh attention to transgender college students as the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters in the lawsuit, their attorney and others planned a 'save sisterhood' rally at the courthouse before the hearing.

Attorneys for the six sorority sisters continue to argue that sorority leaders have ignored sorority bylaws that they contend shouldn't allow transgender women to be members.

In the lawsuit, members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority chapter challenged Artemis Langford's (rear, far left) admission by casting doubt on whether sorority rules allow a transgender woman into the organization

Johnson's ruling gave too much deference to sorority leaders in allowing them to define a woman under membership requirements, the sorority sisters argue on appeal.

Unlike in the original lawsuit, Langford is not included in the appeal. 

The national Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and its president, Mary Pat Rooney, are the current defendants.

The case at Wyoming's only four-year public university has drawn widespread attention as transgender people fight for more acceptance in schools, athletics, workplaces and elsewhere, while others push back.