Federal court dismisses appeal of lawsuit contesting transgender woman in Wyoming sorority

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DENVER (AP) — A federal court on Wednesday dismissed the appeal of a lawsuit that challenged a transgender woman’s acceptance into a sorority at the University of Wyoming, ruling it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2024 (545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DENVER (AP) — A federal court on Wednesday dismissed the appeal of a lawsuit that challenged a transgender woman’s acceptance into a sorority at the University of Wyoming, ruling it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.

The lawsuit could not be appealed because a lower court judge in Wyoming left open the possibility of refiling it in his court, the three-judge U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver determined.

The case involving Artemis Langford, a transgender woman admitted into the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority chapter in Laramie, drew widespread attention as transgender people fight for more acceptance in schools, athletics, workplaces and elsewhere, while others push back.

FILE - Cheryl Tuck-Smith, a long-time member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, speaks in support of the six plaintiffs in a case against the sorority during a news conference outside the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, May 14, 2024, in Denver. A federal appeals court on Wednesday, June 12 dismissed a lawsuit challenging a transgender woman's acceptance into a sorority at the University of Wyoming. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)
FILE - Cheryl Tuck-Smith, a long-time member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, speaks in support of the six plaintiffs in a case against the sorority during a news conference outside the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, May 14, 2024, in Denver. A federal appeals court on Wednesday, June 12 dismissed a lawsuit challenging a transgender woman's acceptance into a sorority at the University of Wyoming. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)

The sorority argued it had wide leeway to interpret its own bylaws, including defining who is a woman, but six sorority sisters argued in a lawsuit for a narrower interpretation.

Last summer, U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne dismissed the case without prejudice in a ruling that suggested the lawsuit could be refiled in his court.

The appellate judges sided with sorority attorneys who argued the case was not ready for the appeals court. The question elicited the most discussion before the judges during oral arguments in May.

An attorney for the sorority sisters, May Mailman, declined to comment on the ruling. An attorney for the sorority, Natalie McLaughlin, did not return messages seeking comment.

The sorority sisters’ lawsuit against Kappa Kappa Gamma and its president, Mary Pat Rooney, claimed Langford made them feel uncomfortable in the sorority house. Langford was dropped from the lawsuit on appeal.

FILE - In this June 14, 2016, file photo, two people walk on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie, Wyo. A federal court on Wednesday June 12 dismissed the appeal of a lawsuit that challenged a transgender woman’s acceptance into a sorority at the University of Wyoming, ruling it had no jurisdiction to hear the case.. (Shannon Broderick/Laramie Boomerang via AP, File)
FILE - In this June 14, 2016, file photo, two people walk on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie, Wyo. A federal court on Wednesday June 12 dismissed the appeal of a lawsuit that challenged a transgender woman’s acceptance into a sorority at the University of Wyoming, ruling it had no jurisdiction to hear the case.. (Shannon Broderick/Laramie Boomerang via AP, File)

The arguments hearing drew a small demonstration outside a federal courthouse in Denver with women holding signs that read “Save Sisterhood” and “Women have the right to women’s only spaces.”

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