CHEYENNE, Wyo. (TND) — A group of Wyoming sorority members are continuing their legal battle to prevent a transgender student from living in their sorority house, reigniting a nationwide debate on how transgender students should participate in Greek life.
Earlier this year, The National Desk (TND) reported seven members ofthe University of Wyoming Kappa Kappa Gamma (Kappa) chapter filed a lawsuit claiming a transgender student living in their sorority house was "voyeuristically peeping on them while they were in intimate situations" and, in one case, "had a visible erection while doing so."
TND obtained a copy of an amended federal complaint Tuesday filed by Wyoming Kappa members against their national sorority and its holding companies.
The documents also contain a series of attachments, including Kappa's bylaws, the sorority's founding charter and a member's guide for supporting LGBTQIA+ individuals. The complaint was amended on April 20 to include the names of involved plaintiffs.
Plaintiff attorneys Cassie Craven and John Knepper argue that Kappa's National President Mary Pat Rooney "unilaterally concluded a man can become a Kappa member if he claims to have the subjective belief he is a woman."
The complaint asserts "this conclusion disregards biology, Kappa's 150-year history, and Kappa's purpose, mission and bylaws."
The plaintiffs allege the national Kappa organization pressured the Wyoming chapter to admit a biological male, who now identifies as a female, into the organization's membership.
"Defendants have no peer-reviewed research that the benefits of a 'single-sex' environment continue to exist when men 'who identify as women' are admitted", the complaint states, referencing a previous lawsuit Kappa waged against Harvard University.
TND obtained Kappa's 2018 filings against Harvard over what they deemed as a discriminatory rule that unjustly harmed single-gender organizations. According to Reuters, in an effort to upend secretive male-only "final clubs," Harvard instituted a campus-wide policy sanctioning students if they joined any single-gender organizations.
Kappa, along with fraternities Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and sorority Kappa Alpha Theta, joined the suit against Harvard.
Harvard revised its policy in 2020 after the fraternities and sororities successfully equated their defunct policy to sexual discrimination. TND reached out to Harvard University for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
According to documents obtained by TND, Kappa alleged in its 2018 case against Harvard that "single-sex environments are associated with a myriad of developmental and other benefits, particularly for young women".
In a May 15 interview with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly, several Wyoming Kappa members named in the lawsuit spoke out about their experience living with a transgender member in their sorority house.
"Some of the girls in the house, I know have been sexually assault or sexually harassed, so some of the girls live in constant fear in our home. Our home is supposed to be a safe space," a sorority member claimed.
In August 2022, TND reported a self-described non-binary student'smembership bid was rejected by every sorority at University of Alabama.
TND attempted to reach the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority's national office. It did not return a request for comment.
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