Two Kappa Kappa Gamma alumni ousted after backing lawsuit to remove transgender member
Two longtime members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority — including a former national foundation president — say they were ousted by the organization due to their support for the controversial lawsuit over the inclusion of a transgender member at the University of Wyoming.
Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith — both of whom were active Kappa Kappa Gamma members of 50 years — were summarily dismissed from the sorority in late October over what the executive director described as multiple violations of the organization’s bylaws related to the Wyoming lawsuit, the right-wing Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) said.
“My heart was saddened when the current six council members voted me out, however, I will not be quiet about the truth,” Levang, a past Kappa Kappa Gamma National Foundation president, told the IWF of the move.
Tuck-Smith added that she was “hurt” by KKG’s decision to terminate her membership after decades of contribution.
“I was … disturbed that KKG has become a political tool rather than an organization that promotes women,” she lamented.
“My dismissal simply spurs me on to educate others about the dangers of DEI which in reality does not support diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Levang and Tuck-Smith were both vocal supporters of the six University of Wyoming Kappa Kappa Gamma members who sued the national sorority over the admission of Artemis Langford, a trans woman.
The suit was dismissed by a district court judge in August on the grounds that Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bylaws do not include a definition of what constitutes a “woman.”
A few weeks later, in mid-September, Levang and Tuck-Smith received letters from the sorority’s standards director informing them they were being considered for dismissal due to alleged violations of the group’s policies, according to documents provided by the IWF.
Both Levang and Tuck-Smith were accused of using private KKG email lists and contact information to solicit other members for donations and provide updates to the Wyoming suit.
The two women were also said to have spoken as KKG sisters to multiple media outlets without the national office’s permission, which violated the Speaking for the Fraternity Policy, the standards director explained in the correspondence.
The former sisters’ outspoken support of the Wyoming plaintiffs’ claims that Langford was a sexual predator who had no right to be in the sorority was characterized as a disregard for the KKG Human Dignity Policy, the director added.
“We have become aware of multiple instances … in which you have spoken to media about the ongoing litigation in a manner that is injurious to the organization and perpetuates harmful stereotypes and false information without seeking approval from Kappa Kappa Gamma Headquarters,” the standards director wrote to both women.
Levang and Tuck-Smith fired back with lengthy defenses of their conduct.
In a letter dated Oct. 24, Tuck-Smith called the accusations against her “nonsensical” and said they “diminish the very purpose for which laws prohibiting discrimination exist.”
The call for disciplinary action also supposedly ignored the “purpose and intent” of her behavior, Levang said in her own missive, which claimed that she spoke out “to advocate for and protect those members who were told they are not welcome in the Fraternity unless they disavow the very principles upon which the Fraternity was founded.”
Both women argued that Kappa Kappa Gamma’s conduct actually violated the organization’s historical tenets, which promoted education and leadership for women.
“Rather than debate this important issue, the [Kappa Kappa Gamma] leaders defaulted to smears of ‘discrimination’ and ‘transphobia’ to detract from their intentional violations of Fraternity rules and their efforts to prioritize the needs and identity of biological men over the women the Fraternity was established to support,” Tuck-Smith claimed.
Levang and Tuck-Smith were informed of their final dismissal via an email from the sorority’s executive director on November 1, the records show.
In the brief note, the director said the group “regrets the necessity of this action.”
“First, a federal judge carefully examined every aspect of the plaintiffs’ allegations and ruled to dismiss the litigation – affirming a private organization’s right to choose their members,” a spokesperson for Kappa Kappa Gamma told The Post Tuesday.
“With regard to the membership status of individual members, we do not share information publicly about policy violations that may result in disciplinary actions. We can say that members are notified of any potential violations prior to action being taken,” the brief statement concluded.
May Mailman, senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Law Center who is representing the plaintiffs from the Wyoming case slammed the sorority’s decision.
“Kappa claims to value honesty and to embrace differences. But once it heard honesty it did not like, Kappa shattered every sorority and American value to silence these alumnae,” she insisted.
“Instead of punishing dedicated and caring sisters, Kappa leadership should revoke their own memberships, as they are the only ones in violation of Kappa’s bylaws,” Mailman added.
Allison Coghan, a recent University of Wyoming graduate and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told “Fox & Friends First” that the national office’s move to dismiss Levang and Tuck-Smith was “really disappointing.”
“This is retaliation against [biological] women, and it’s supposed to be an organization meant for women,” Coghan said.
“So to hear that they didn’t want to see these brave women sticking up for us and supporting us, then, I mean, where are we supposed to go?” she complained.
“Where are women supposed to go if a women’s organization isn’t going to stick up for itself?”
Mailman joined Coghan in the interview and shared that the Wyoming suit is before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“There the issue is going to be Kappa’s bylaws protect women. It says that only women can be members,” Mailman insisted.
“So the big question for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is what is a woman? Do you know what a woman is? This is something that we don’t expect to be a very difficult legal brief to write,” she continued, implying that the group expects the court to narrowly define womanhood along biological lines.
“But we do hope that the 10th Circuit understands reality, has seen women around them, can spot one, understands what one is.”
Levang and Tuck-Smith’s ouster is the latest move in the controversial KKG saga, which sparked a national conversation over transgender rights and discrimination.
As of September 2023, Langford is still a member of the University of Wyoming chapter, she told MSNBC.
“I hope that even if there’s one person out there that feels that their identity is being attacked, that it’s okay to be who they are and it’s never okay to be attacked on their identity,” she explained to the outlet of her court battle.
“The allegations against Ms. Langford should never have made it into a legal filing. They are nothing more than cruel rumors that mirror exactly the type of rumors used to vilify and dehumanize members of the LGBTQIA+ community for generations. And they are baseless,” Langford’s attorney, Rachel Berkness, added shortly after the judge’s ruling was read.
With Post wires
