Seven Women Sue Sorority at University of Wyoming for Admitting Man Claiming to Be Female

The University Family statue, by artist Robert Russin, stands on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie, Wyo., on Aug. 13, 2022. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Seven women are suing their sorority at the University of Wyoming for admitting a man claiming to be a female into its sisterhood.

The plaintiffs, anonymous in the lawsuit (pdf), are suing the Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) sorority—a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Dublin, Ohio—and its Fraternity Council president, Mary Pat Rooney.

The 21-year-old man who identifies as a woman, who is more than 6 feet tall and weighs 260 pounds, is given the pseudonym Terry Smith in the lawsuit.

Rooney and other KKG officials conducted Smith’s admission with disregard to the secret voting process required, violated fiduciary duties to the sorority’s bylaws, and—by admitting a man into the sorority—interfered with the plaintiff’s contractual relationship with the defendant, according to the lawsuit.

“A woman is an adult human female,” the lawsuit states. “An adult human male is not a woman, no matter how he chooses to describe himself. From conception, every single cell in a man’s body differs from the analogous cell in a woman: brain cells, muscle cells, bone cells. These cells mature and develop in different ways—before, during, and after puberty—for reasons that are still not fully understood.”

Deviation From Sorority Bylaws

Instead of adhering to the bylaws, the lawsuit stated that defendant Rooney and members of the KKG Fraternity Council followed a 2018 “Guide for Supporting our LGBTQIA+ Members” (pdf) that proclaimed KKG as a “single gender organization” that admitted both women and “individuals who identify as women.”

The lawsuit states that the guide isn’t a bylaw of the sorority adopted by an official vote through the Fraternity Council but was distributed as a resource—not provided to all sorority members— that “repeats, without attribution, material created by an organization called CampusPride.org.”

“Defendant Rooney and the Fraternity Council members cannot, consistent with their fiduciary duties, twist the Sorority’s longstanding membership requirement to conflate being female (being a woman) with femininity (acting like one believes a woman ‘should’),” the lawsuit states.

By admitting Smith, KKG leaders have not only violated their own bylaws and corporate charter but also abandoned the sorority’s 150-year commitment to providing a haven for women, according to the lawsuit.

‘An Unsettling Presence’

Since Smith’s admission, he’s received all KKG privileges, including access to areas restricted to women only.

Smith doesn’t live in the sorority house because of a housing contract that requires him to live in a dormitory on the campus for the 2022–2023 academic year, although it is reported that he will move the next year.

While not a resident yet, the lawsuit states that women have reported that he has lingered in the common area staring at women walking into the bathroom.

“One sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel,” the lawsuit states. “She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw Mr. Smith watching her silently.”

In a similar incident, the lawsuit reports that one of the plaintiffs alleged that when changing shirts, she discovered Smith had been watching her and had become aroused.

When the plaintiffs and their parents brought up concerns, KKG officials either dismissed them or recommended that, if they are uncomfortable or concerned about their safety, they quit the sorority.

“Plaintiffs have requested to live away from the sorority house next year to avoid being forced to live with Mr. Smith,” the lawsuit states. “These requests have all been refused, even though the sorority house will no longer be single-sex.”

The lawsuit claims that, in addition to the plaintiffs, the sorority is being harmed by the wrongful admission.

“Housing contracts were due on February 17, 2023, but at present only ten of the more than 40 chapter members have returned a signed contract,” the lawsuit states. “This dramatic decline is because of the lack of privacy in the sorority house, and Mr. Smith’s access to all areas within.”

The plaintiffs allege that the defendants have disregarded concerns about Smith’s “inappropriate, and sometimes threatening, behavior” since his admission.

Frequently, Smith has been witnessed staring at women while visibly sexually aroused, the lawsuit alleges.

He’s taken photos of women “at awkward moments,” and has “repeatedly questioned the women about what vaginas look like, breast cup size, whether some women were considering breast reductions, and birth control,” the lawsuit states.

“Mr. Smith talked about his virginity and at what age it would be appropriate for someone to have sex,” the lawsuit states. “Mr. Smith also talked about kissing a girl.”

A transgender activist blocks a vehicle in Anaheim, Calif., on Oct. 8, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Inconsistent Behavior

While he claims to be transgender, Smith has behaved inconsistently with being a woman, the lawsuit states.

He’s failed to change the gender on his driver’s license to female from male in his home state of Washington, which allows him to do so.

“He regularly travels about campus wearing baggy pants as would any other male student,” the lawsuit states. “Other than occasionally wearing women’s clothing, Mr. Smith makes little effort to resemble a woman.

“He has not undergone treatments to create a more feminine appearance, such as female hormones, feminization surgery, or laser hair removal. Plaintiffs often see Mr. Smith with the facial hair one would expect on a man who either did not shave that morning or whose facial hair has regrown by the evening.”

Interested in politics and law, Smith reportedly calls those who disagree with him a transphobe, labeling the disagreements as an act of discrimination, the lawsuit states.

In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Smith is still attracted to women, with a profile on the dating app Tinder.

A Blacklist

Because of the fear of reprisal, many voted to admit Smith because the secondary voting method used required voters to sign in on Google Poll with their email address, which violated their anonymity, the lawsuit says.

“Mr. Smith was admitted by a margin of either one or two votes,” the lawsuit states. “Had the chapter conducted a lawful voting process, according to the Sorority’s required procedures, Mr. Smith would not have been offered membership in Kappa Kappa Gamma.”

Before the vote, one witness reported that Smith had sent a blacklist to KKG officials of chapter members he believed to be transphobic and should be expelled from the sorority, the lawsuit states.

“Mr. Smith has demonstrated and acted on his intention to pressure the Sorority, at the local and national level, to expel any member who is committed to preserving the women-only character of the Sorority,” the lawsuit states.

‘Removed From Their Positions’

According to the lawsuit, because dialogue has failed between the plaintiffs and defendants, the plaintiffs seek relief from the court.

“To the extent that discovery demonstrates that each member of the Fraternity Council has colluded in this effort, these individuals should be removed from their positions,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiffs ask this Court to declare that Defendants have violated their fiduciary duty, and their contractual obligations to the Plaintiffs, by purporting to admit Mr. Smith into the Sorority.”

The national KKG office didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment; attempts to contact Smith were unsuccessful.