Wyoming Sorority Sued for Admitting Trans Woman Who Is Allegedly ‘Sexually Interested in Women’ and Unsettles the Sisters

The University of Wyoming has become a new battleground for transgender people’s rights, with seven sorority sisters filing a lawsuit over the admission of a transgender woman to their sisterhood chapter. The seven sorority members are suing Kappa Kappa Gamma over its 2022 decision to admit a transgender woman named Artemis Langford. The lawsuit alleges that the 21-year-old, identified by the pseudonym Terry Smith, has made house residents uncomfortable by staring at them for extended periods and showing signs of arousal around them. “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 viewed by The New York Sun says. Terry Smith is “sexually interested in women” and has had “an erection visible through his leggings” while watching members enter the sorority house, it adds. The lawsuit was filed at the federal district court for Wyoming. The plaintiffs, who are anonymous and are referred to as Jane Doe I-VII, are suing the national Kappa Kappa Gamma, the national council president, Mary Pat Rooney, and Terry Smith.The lawsuit alleges that Kappa Kappa Gamma officials violated sorority rules during Terry Smith’s admission process. Instead of using the usual anonymous voting strategy, they required sorority members to use a Google poll and write down their email addresses, compromising their anonymity.“Sorority representatives not only approved Mr. Smith’s membership, but national sorority officials also encouraged chapter officials to pursue Mr. Smith and guided chapter officers in the illegal selection process,” the lawsuit says.Kappa Kappa Gamma’s council members did not respond to a comment request from the New York Sun. Yet, the sorority’s executive director, Kari Kittrell Poole, told the Associated Press that the lawsuit “contains numerous false allegations” but said she could not disclose further details. She added that Kappa Kappa Gamma does not discriminate based on gender identity.In 2018, Kappa Kappa Gamma changed its 150-year-old single-sex organization policy and issued a “Guide for Supporting Our LGBTQIA+ Members.” The new guideline allows “women” and “individuals who identify as women” to be considered for admission into the sorority.Terry Smith does not currently live with the 44 women who reside in the sorority house. Yet, the lawsuit says the new sorority member has spent many hours at the house since being admitted last September.On one occasion, Terry Smith attended a slumber party in which the new sorority member allegedly took photos without consent and questioned the woman about their vaginas and breasts. Terry Smith “was supposed” to leave at 10 p.m. but did not leave until midnight, the lawsuit says. The president of Alturas Institute, an Idaho-based organization that promotes the Constitution and gender equality, David Adler, told Wyoming-based news organization Cowboy State Daily that this lawsuit could eventually be replicated in many other states. “This is kind of an issue that has a very good chance of winding up in the U.S. Supreme Court,” Mr. Adler said. “The floodgates are open.”Despite Terry Smith using female pronouns on Twitter, the lawsuit says the new sorority member “only occasionally” wears women’s clothing and has not undergone any medical gender transition process. In addition, a Washington State driver’s license identifies Terry Smith as male, despite having the possibility to choose female or “X” gender. “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 lawsuit says. This month, Wyoming’s governor, Mark Gordon, signed a bill that bans transgender athletes from playing on girls or women’s sports teams. The law takes effect on July 1.

Wyoming Sorority Sued for Admitting Trans Woman Who Is Allegedly ‘Sexually Interested in Women’ and Unsettles the Sisters

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