Sorority plaintiff vows to keep fighting after judge rejects lawsuit on trans member
A plaintiff in the lawsuit, Allie, and her lawyer Cassie Craven, join ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss the case, saying it is not about ‘trans inclusion,’ but ‘erasing women.’
Days after MSNBC interviewed transgender Wyoming sorority sister Artemis Langford following a judge's ruling in Langford's favor, a sorority sister and her attorney reacted on "America Reports."
Artemis Langford, a transgender member of Kappa Kappa Gamma's University of Wyoming chapter, criticized media and public scrutiny received following the lawsuit, which was launched by several members of the college's chapter against the national sorority organization to bar Langford from membership.
Federal Judge Alan Johnson, a Reagan appointee, ruled his court "will not define ‘woman’ today," citing the lack of a definition of woman in KKG bylaws.
The court cannot impede KKG's "freedom of expressive association," Johnson ruled.
WYOMING SORORITY SISTERS SPEAK OUT AFTER LAWSUIT LAUNCHED OVER TRANSGENDER MEMBER
The debate over the term "woman" previously arose during Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearing when she declined to give a definition to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., because she wasn't a "biologist."
Sorority sister Allie pledged Friday she and her allies will "keep fighting" despite Johnson's ruling.
"There's a lot of things [regarding Langford] that did make the girls uncomfortable, and that's why this is something that's so important for us to fight for. It's a place where we're supposed to be able to be and feel comfortable and not have to worry about outside things affecting us and be able to grow and just feel safe," Allie told FOX News.
Allie recounted feeling nervous walking to the shower wearing only a towel in Langford's presence, as well as the existence of "communal" bathrooms and common areas.
At the time of the lawsuit's filing in March by seven anonymous sorority sisters, the women reportedly alleged Langford had "peep[ed]" on them and at one point was seen with an erection while doing so.
On FOX News, Allie's attorney Cassie Craven added that despite press attention, the suit is not political in nature.
"This is a biological reality, and unfortunately, these young women have been forced to experience the lie. They've been inserted in this debate. The vote conducted to bring this individual in was illegal," she claimed, citing several sisters' reported absences from the survey.
"… without any recourse, we sought a determination in a court of law to look at the bylaws from a contractual and not political standpoint at all," Craven continued. "Unfortunately, the judge converted this into a political issue, and it's unfortunate because it's been skewed into a conversation about inclusion."
She said that federal Title IX exempts men from joining women's sororities, adding that helped bolster their challenge to the sorority's admission of Langford.
"The lie is that being a woman is simply a game of semantics that one can play," she said, citing potential "danger" and "uncertainty" about having Langford in the house.
"This isn't about denying someone's existence or trying to make them feel bad. This is about a fundamental, biological reality."
In a statement to FOX News' "The Ingraham Angle" on Thursday, Rachel Berkness, attorney for Langford, said the court was correct in its dismissal of the plaintiff's claims.
"As the filings in this case indicate, the plaintiffs in this case chose to join a sorority that openly accepted transgender members. After Ms. Langford was welcomed into the sorority by a majority vote, the plaintiffs sued for over half a million dollars," Berkness said in the statement.
"The Court… was correct to remark that the allegations regarding Ms. Langford were unsubstantiated and unbefitting in federal court."
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