A nationwide battle over places where transgender people can live has spilled over to the University of Wyoming, where a lawsuit filed by seven sorority members challenges the inclusion of a transgender woman in their local chapter.
The woman, identified only by the pseudonym “Terry Smith” in a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, made Kappa Kappa Gamma house residents a bit uncomfortable by sitting on a common-area couch and staring at them for hours. Talking about the complaint of the case.
“A sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel. She sensed an unsettling presence, turned and saw Mr. Smith silently watching her,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit against the national Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, its national council president, and Smith alleges that national sorority officials pressured the local chapter to vote to admit new members in violation of sorority rules.
The suit asks a judge to revoke Smith’s sorority membership and award unspecified damages. The damages should reflect the local chapter’s financial stability and reduced donations because of Smith’s induction last fall, the lawsuit alleges.
Like Smith, the seven women sued are referred to in the lawsuit as anonymous, Jane Does I-XII.
Smith did not immediately return an email message seeking comment Thursday. He did not have an attorney listed in court records.
The lawsuit “contains numerous false allegations,” but the sorority could not comment in detail, executive director Kari Kittrell Poole said in an emailed statement. Kappa Kappa Gamma does not discriminate based on factors including gender identity, he added.
Smith, 21, does not live among the 44 women currently living in the sorority row houses because of housing commitments elsewhere, the suit identifies Smith as male.
Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
Smith spent a lot of time at the sorority house, but allegedly didn’t leave until two hours after she pledged, including a slumber party. The next morning, Smith became “sexually excited” when the other pledges saw them changing clothes, the lawsuit alleges.
Smith, who identifies on Twitter with the female pronoun, wears women’s clothing “only occasionally,” has not undergone medical gender reassignment and identifies as male on her Washington state driver’s license even though she could legally identify as female or “X” gender. , the lawsuit alleges.
“An adult human male does not become a woman because he tells others that he has a female ‘gender identity’ and behaves in what he believes to be a stereotypically female manner,” the lawsuit states.
In inducting Smith, the group improperly relied not on official bylaws but rather on a 2018 “Guidelines for Supporting Our LGBTQIA+ Members” which states that Kappa Kappa Gamma is a “single-sex” organization for “women” and “individuals who identify as women.” gives, admitting both,” the lawsuit alleges.
The University of Wyoming campus in Laramie has had a long history of grappling with LGBTQ+ issues since the murders of gay freshmen. Matthew Shepard In 1998, increased attention was paid to them nationwide. Wyoming, along with South Carolina, is one of only two states that has not yet adopted a hate-crime law since Shepard’s murder.
Republican Gov. Mark Gordon recently allowed a ban on transgender athletes in pre-college interscholastic athletics without his signature.