Appeals court weighs sorority lawsuit over transgender membership rules

A federal appeals court is weighing whether to revive a lawsuit brought by University of Wyoming sorority sisters who allege Kappa Kappa Gamma breached its contract with members by changing its rules to allow transgender women to join. The case, heard Monday by a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, centers on whether the sorority's national council acted improperly when it issued a 2015 position statement expanding membership to include individuals who identify as women. Plaintiffs, including Allie Coghan and Hannah Holtmeier, argue the council's action constituted a fundamental change to the organization's bylaws that required a membership vote, which they say never occurred. They contend the change was not disclosed to members until November 2022, after the sorority admitted Artemis Langford, a transgender woman, to its University of Wyoming chapter. "When Kappa tells you, we promise you a sisterhood of women, and a man shows up, that is the opposite," Coghan said after the hearing. "It is breaking the contract.