Late last month, a judge dismissed the lawsuit brought by students at the University of Wisconsin against the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority for allowing a transgender woman to pledge.
The KKG sisters say the organization’s bylaws – which call for a “single sex, women only” sorority – were violated when 21-year-old Artemis Langford, who is a biological male, was allowed to join. The judge’s dismissal of the case upheld Langford’s membership in the sorority, and the media has since lionized him for his bravery.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Free Press reporter Nellie Bowles to discuss the judge’s ruling and the failure of the left and media to show any kind of respect for the concerns of the plaintiffs in the case.
[Editor’s Note: You can learn more about Megyn’s position on preferred pronouns here.]
KKG Sorority Sisters Lose Their Case
In May, Megyn interviewed the University of Wisconsin sorority sisters who filed the lawsuit against the national Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter and their attorney Cassie Craven about the girls’ experience with Langford and why they chose to bring the case.
Langford (referred to in court documents as “Terry Smith”) joined the chapter in the fall of 2022. The plaintiffs allege that the sorority ignored official bylaws when admitting him to join, and instead relied on a 2018 “Guide for Supporting Our LGBTQIA+ Members” that says Kappa Kappa Gamma is a “single-gender” – rather than a “single-sex” – organization.
The suit claims national sorority officials pressured the local chapter to violate the rules by allowing the trans member. As the women explained, all chapter members are supposed to vote on a new pledge via an anonymous vote. In this instance, however, the sisters said not all members were aware of the vote and it was conducted via a Google poll that would reveal their email address. They told Megyn at the time that it was made clear to them that there was no room for dissent.
The lawsuit also detailed some of the disturbing behavior the trans pledge allegedly engaged in, including asking women about their genitals and having visible erections. Megyn noted that those claims really aren’t even the crux of the case. “It’s not even relevant to me,” she said. “Men don’t belong and women’s spaces and sororities, by definition, are one of them.”
In the ruling to dismiss the case, the judge said:
“The University of Wyoming chapter voted to admit — and, more broadly, a sorority of hundreds of thousands approved — Langford. With its inquiry beginning and ending there, the Court will not define ‘woman’ today. The delegate of a private, voluntary organization interpreted ‘woman’, otherwise undefined in the nonprofit’s bylaws, expansively; this Judge may not invade Kappa Kappa Gamma’s freedom of expressive association and inject the circumscribed definition Plaintiffs urge…
Holding that Plaintiffs fail to plausibly allege their derivative, breach of contract, tortious interference, and direct claims, the Court dismisses, without prejudice, Plaintiffs’ causes of action.”
As a result, Langford will be able to maintain his membership.
The Media’s Response
In the aftermath of the ruling, Langford has been praised by the left and media. The trans student was interviewed by MSNBC host Yasmin Vossoughian on Sunday and was introduced as “the very brave woman at the center of it all.” Vossoughian proceeded to refer to the rising junior as a “very brave and unique person” for being the “first in a situation like this.”
Langford said “it’s been a very difficult year to say the least.” But he noted he is “not the first trans person to ever be attacked… and, unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be the last.” Instead, he wants “people to know that it’s never okay for that kind of scrutiny on a person just because of their identity, just because I’m trans.”
As Megyn explained, Langford is misunderstanding the scrutiny. “The scrutiny is not because Artemis is who he is,” she said. “It’s because he joined a women’s only group.” While Vossoughian was happy to call Lanford a “brave woman” – sans any kind of ‘trans’ qualifier – she did not give so much as “a nod to the discomfort of the women” who brought the lawsuit, Megyn noted.
Bowles said this situation is reflective of how extreme gender ideology has gotten. “The American left’s stance that anyone can declare themselves any gender they want and ought to have access to any space they want – women’s prison, sororities, sports teams… that’s really out of step with broader liberalism,” she said. “The American left on this is in a bizarre tangle, and I cannot figure out why.”
These cases involving the encroachment on women’s rights and spaces is at odds with where the left once stood. “It’s odd that this movement that was all about ‘believe women’ is now so skeptical of women saying they’re uncomfortable with something,” Bowles explained. “The empathy is only with [Langford] and not at all with any of the other people who are being impacted by having a biological male in a women’s house – again, I don’t understand why the American left has taken this stance and has become so obsessed with this hard line.”
While Bowles said the position “seems irrational,” Megyn doesn’t think it will change any time soon. “This is definitely the hill they want to die on,” she concluded.
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Bowles by tuning in to episode 621 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.