UW Sorority Sisters Make National Airwaves With Transgender Lawsuit
Kappa Kappa Gamma members appear on Fox News, SiriusXM
May 19, 2023
Three members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at the University of Wyoming appeared with their attorney Cassie Craven (second from left) on the Fox News Channel's "Ingraham Angle" this week to discuss the lawsuit they filed in protest of a transgender member who joined last fall. Also pictured here are Hannah Holtmeier, Allison Coghan and Jaylyn Westenbroek. (Credit: Screenshot/The Ingraham Angle)
By Ellen Fike
Special to the Wyoming Truth
They’ve yet to have their day in court, but three of the six University of Wyoming sorority sisters, who are suing their national headquarters over a transgender member, are making a splash in the national media.
Hannah Holtmeier, Jaylyn Westenbroek and Allison Coghan appeared on the Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle” with Laura Ingraham; they also were interviewed on “The Megyn Kelly Show” on SiriusXM this week.
The first part of the women’s “Ingraham Angle” interview aired Tuesday and the second part aired Thursday.
On each show, the women discussed the lawsuit they filed against the Kappa Kappa Gamma national headquarters in late March in which they accused the organization of violating its own bylaws by allowing Artemis Langford, transgender woman, to join its ranks last fall. The women’s media appearances have attracted national headlines, including coverage in the New York Post, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph.
“Ingraham Angle” producers Samantha Fox and Tommy Firth told the Wyoming Truth on Thursday that Ingraham “had an emotional reaction” when she first heard about the lawsuit.
“As the mother of a young daughter who will soon be heading to college, [Laura] shudders at the thought of her being subjected to a situation that didn’t make her feel safe,” they said. “That is what she saw in the girls. Laura has long stood up for women against the encroaching and worrisome acceptance of biological males being put in historically female spots. Whether it is in athletics, or in this case a sorority, girls and women should have a right to feel safe and happy.”
During the interview that aired Thursday, Holtmeier told Ingraham it was frustrating that Langford received preferential treatment from Kappa Kappa Gamma officials.
The lawsuit noted that Langford had a 1.9 cumulative grade point average (GPA) upon joining the sorority last fall. However, this should have been a disqualifying factor, the plaintiffs argue, as Kappa Kappa Gamma members are required to maintain a minimum GPA of 2.7.
“Academics is one of our pillars,” Holtmeier said. “We’re in a sorority to lean on each other, grade-wise and emotional-wise.”
During part one of the interview that aired Tuesday, Holtmeier told Ingraham that the women were “all shocked” when Langford was allowed to join Kappa Kappa Gamma.
“I never thought this would happen to me, especially in a sorority, a space for women,” she said. “We joined under the impression that this was a single-sex organization.”
Meanwhile, Westenbroek told “Ingraham Angle” viewers there were multiple instances when Langford made the sorority sisters feel uncomfortable and added that they are fighting for the importance of women’s spaces.
“We were promised from the beginning that we would have a sisterhood, meaning only females, and our national sorority has failed us,” Westenbroek said during the interview. “They have blatantly ignored us and our values and valued someone else over us in this uncomfortable situation.”
Coghan, who graduated from UW last the weekend, shared similar sentiments.
“When I joined in 2019, I was promised a sisterhood…and for all of that to change my senior year, it caught us all off-guard,” she said.
In addition to the women who appeared on “The Ingraham Angle,” Grace Choate, Madeline Ramar and Megan Kosar are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Despite initially filing the lawsuit under “Jane Doe” pseudonyms, a federal judge ruled in April that the women would have to reveal their names in order for the lawsuit to proceed.
According to the lawsuit, "Langford’s current driver license states he is male and when he presented this official document in January 2023, Langford asserted that he was male. Langford wears women's clothing only occasionally. He regularly travels about campus wearing baggy pants as would any other male student. Other than occasionally wearing women's clothing, Langford makes little effort to resemble a woman."
The women’s lawsuit also claims that they have noticed Langford become visibly aroused while watching the sorority sisters in their house.
“Langford stares at women walking to the bathroom,” the lawsuit alleges. “One sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel. She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw Langford watching her silently.”
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