Sorority alumnae fight for single-sex sisterhood in federal appeals court

Clear Facts

• Sorority alumnae are appealing a federal ruling that dismissed their lawsuit against Kappa Kappa Gamma over the admission of a biological male into an all-female chapter.
• Plaintiff Allie Coghan testified that members were pressured to accept the change and warned they would be labeled transphobic for voting against it.
• The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on whether the sorority’s national leadership can redefine membership requirements without member consent.

The women are seeking to protect the right of private organizations to maintain single-sex spaces rooted in biological reality.

Alumnae of the University of Wyoming chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma returned to federal court this week. They are asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive a lawsuit against the sorority’s national leadership.

They claim the organization improperly admitted a biological male into their chapter without following proper membership procedures.

“We were promised a sisterhood, and we were given a brother,” plaintiff Allie Coghan said. “If Kappa wants to redefine the word woman to include men in the definition, that’s fine, but they have to go through the proper procedures to do so and allow members to vote, which they did not.”

The dispute began in 2022 when the chapter admitted transgender student Artemis Langford. Plaintiffs say the chapter bypassed its normal anonymous voting system and required members to submit non-anonymous Google Forms tied to their email addresses.

Some members reported being followed to their dorm rooms and asked to prove they had voted. Those who opposed the admission were told their stance made them transphobic.

“They were knocking on girls’ doors asking for proof that you had voted,” Coghan said, adding that officers told members they would be labeled “transphobic” if they voted against membership.

Attempts by members and parents to reach national leadership went unanswered. The alumnae, supported by the Independent Women’s Law Center, filed a breach of contract lawsuit that was later dismissed by U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson.

The case now rests with the 10th Circuit, which heard oral arguments in Denver on Monday. The judges are weighing whether the sorority violated its own rules by allowing the chapter to redefine the meaning of “woman” without a formal vote or bylaw change.

“It was very surreal to be back. I mean we were in college. We just wanted to be sorority girls, finish our degrees, graduate, go out into the real world,” Coghan said.

“I remember when I was trying to decide if I wanted to sign my name on this, asking the lawyer, am I [going to] be married with kids before there’s any sort of resolution? And he just kind of laughed at me and said, ‘I guess it depends on how soon you get married.’ Well, I actually just got married two weeks ago,” she added.

Coghan described the atmosphere in the sorority house as toxic after the decision. She said the biological male was granted 24/7 access to the living quarters, including areas female members had to pass through while wearing towels on their way to the showers.

“The entire dynamic of the house completely shifted. It became a political war zone,” Coghan said. “You would see him sitting in the common rooms upstairs and girls have to walk past those rooms to get to the shower. We don’t have a space to undress to get into the shower, so you would just walk in your towel and go take a shower and come back.”

Another plaintiff, Hannah Holtmeier, echoed those concerns during an appearance on the Riley Gaines Show podcast. She said members sometimes used roommates as lookouts when heading to the shower to ensure the hallway was clear.

“It was to the point where girls would have like a lookout basically when they’re in the shower. They would text their roommate, say, ‘Hey, I’m coming back,’ and they would have to clear the hall,” Holtmeier said.

“It was definitely an unnerving feeling in those intimate spaces, especially upstairs when that’s where our showers were,” she added.

Coghan said the experience revealed a troubling shift in priorities within some feminist circles. She expressed hope that the lawsuit will affirm that the word “woman” refers to an adult human female, not a feeling or identity.

“I don’t understand how the feminist movement has shifted so much that it’s no longer pro-women, it’s pro-woman erasure,” Coghan said.

“I hope that it will really set a standard of woman means woman. Woman does not mean man who thinks he is woman. Woman is not up for interpretation. A woman is an adult human female,” she later added.

The appeals court’s decision could determine whether the case moves forward or remains dismissed. It may also set a broader precedent for how private organizations define membership based on biological sex.

Fox News Digital reached out to Kappa Kappa Gamma for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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