We are members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, one of America's largest and oldest college sororities. Sororities are sisterhoods that provide women a safe space to grow together and build genuine, long-lasting relationships with one another.
They are also a refuge for us – biological women – to relax and release from the pressure and stress that come with college and life.
Sorority members are diverse in many ways, including backgrounds, majors, religions and sexual preferences. Title IX explicitly protects the decision of fraternities and sororities to have these single-sex membership organizations.
Membership is a lifetime commitment and once you join a sorority, you cannot join another. During sorority recruitment, we were told about an amazing sisterhood of females who all support each other. Kappa itself is built on values such as truth, respect and connection. Despite our differences as women, what we share are our common values and the fact that we all are females.
WYOMING UNIVERSITY SORORITY PUSHES BACK AGAINST LAWSUIT OVER TRANSGENDER MEMBER
To our surprise, however, our sisterhood no longer has this basic scientific fact in common. In the fall of 2022, Kappa Kappa Gamma allowed a biological male to go through recruitment and join our chapter.
We were blindsided. When we reached out to national headquarters even before there was a vote on this person’s application, we were told that they would get back to us, but they never did. When we brought up privacy and safety concerns, we were either ignored or told to be quiet and change our definition of a woman.
So much for the shared values of respect and truth.
Later, we learned that Kappa Kappa Gamma’s leadership approved this man for membership from the outset. After talking to our chapter and national leadership, we felt that a lawsuit was the only option to save and keep female-only spaces safe for biological women.
We have a simple claim: we were promised an all-female experience, and we have the legal right to that. Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bylaws restrict membership to women.
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If Kappa’s national leadership wants to admit men, they should change the organization formally through the proper processes, and should communicate to all chapters and to prospective members during recruitment. We hope that doesn’t happen. Women’s only spaces are so integral and valuable to our society and rather than tear them down, we hope to help protect them.
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We believe everyone should have a safe place to live. We do not believe in bending rules, in valuing one member's feelings over the security and privacy concerns of others. We do not believe in forcing opinions on others. We do not believe in discrimination against transgender individuals.
Women should not be belittled and discriminated against for wanting the single-sex experience they were promised and that is permitted under Title IX. Women deserve rights under the law and with these rights, the community, safety, privacy and opportunities that come with women-only spaces.
We are young women, no different than you, your daughters, your friends, your family members. We do not fear those who tried to discipline and silence us. Instead, we have chosen to fight to prevent other women from finding themselves in a similar situation.
We are standing up for women's rights and spaces. Stand with us and be heard.
