The Washington Post is under fire after sympathetically profiling a trans-identified male who enrolled in a sorority at the University of Wyoming and reportedly exposed his erection to the female members. Artemis Langford, who began identifying as a “lesbian” in 2017, was accepted into Kappa Kappa Gamma despite not even meeting basic eligibility requirements.
Langford became the subject of international attention earlier this year after multiple female KKG members launched a lawsuit against the national governing body of their sorority demanding his removal.
Although Langford required a majority vote to gain admission to KKG, one sorority member came forward to state that the female members were initially promised anonymity in the voting process, only to then be told they would have to identify themselves on the ballot form. This resulted in many of the women feeling “intimidated” into voting for Langford to avoid accusations of “transphobia.”
Following the launch of their lawsuit, the women were similarly denied anonymity by the court.
As previously reported by Reduxx, the female KKG members involved in the lawsuit noted that there had been several disturbing instances of inappropriate behavior from Langford following his admission.
Court records revealed that the young women alleged Langford, who is 6’2″, had been voyeuristically peeping on them while they were in intimate situations, and, in at least one occasion, had a visible erection while doing so.
“One sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel … She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw [Langford] watching her silently,” one court document, which had anonymized Langford, reads.
“[Langford] has, while watching members enter the sorority house, had an erection visible through his leggings,” the suit says. “Other times, he has had a pillow in his lap.”
The complaint adds that Langford is “sexually interested in women” as evidenced by his Tinder profile “through which he seeks to meet women.” It is further alleged that Langford took photographs of the women while at a sorority slumber party, where he also is said to have made inappropriate comments.
“Smith repeatedly questioned the women about what vaginas look like, breast cup size, whether women were considering breast reductions and birth control.”
Langford “was supposed” to leave the slumber party by 10 p.m. that evening but did not, saying that he intended to leave after the women fell asleep. After singing to himself at approximately 11 p.m., Langford finally left the residence at midnight, only to return the next morning.
At that time, it is stated that Langford stood silently in the corner of the room while watching other pledges change out of their sleeping garments.
The lawsuit also highlighted a disturbing incident involving one of the women as she changed her clothing.
Unaware that Langford was in the house, she faced away from the other members and removed her shirt in a communal area. The woman, who was not wearing a bra, turned to discover Langford staring at her after she had put on a clean shirt.
Curiously, court documents also reveal that Langford was admitted to KKG despite not even meeting their basic eligibility requirements.
While KKG requires applicants to have a 2.7 Grade Point Average (GPA), Langford only had a 1.9 at the time he submitted his membership request, and was not on a grade probation. The legal complaint notes that this indicates Langford’s application was “evaluated using a different standard.”
On October 14, the Washington Post released an extensive profile on Langford sympathetically portraying him as the victim of a hate campaign. In one section, the writer, William Wang, attempts to compare Langford’s transgender experiences and the history of women being excluded from higher education institutions.
“A history major, she started researching the origins of American sororities. The earliest began in the 19th century, when few women attended colleges. They often found themselves alone and denigrated, and they banded together to prove themselves equal to men,” the article reads, using feminine pronouns to refer to Langford. “Artemis saw her own life in their stories. Fitting in had never come easily.”
In another section of the article, parallels are drawn between Langford and Matthew Shepard, a murdered University of Wyoming student who was alleged to be the victim of a hate crime in 1998. While Shepard’s death heralded in a wave of anti-hate legislation as it was believed he was targeted due to his homosexuality, recent investigative journalism suggest the drug trade was more likely to have been the primary motive.
Claims that Langford had been spotted with an erection were also refuted in the article, with the Washington Post pointing to a single sorority member’s testimony in order to discredit the allegations of several others involved in the lawsuit.
On social media, the Washington Post‘s article prompted a wave of criticism from users dissatisfied with the attempt to portray Langford as a victim.
“This article is such sickening misogyny I can’t believe you printed it,” women’s rights advocate and Reduxx contributor Jennifer Gingrich said. “What about the rights of the young women who felt violated by a man in their private, female-only spaces? Why don’t THEIR feelings matter?”
“Women and girls should not be forced to move over and shut up because of the wants and demands of some male people,” another user wrote in response to the Washington Post.
"man takes fetish way too fucking far"
— Eva Kurilova (@eva_kurilova) October 14, 2023
Some condemned the Washington Post for utilizing feminine pronouns to refer to Langford, suggesting it was a deliberate obfuscation of reality.
“Just because your style guide insists on ‘proper’ trans pronouns doesn’t mean readers don’t recognize that this is a confused male insisting on inhabiting women’s spaces,” user Scott G wrote.
As of the time of this writing, the Washington Post‘s X post on Langford’s story has received over 4,700 overwhelmingly negative replies compared to just 698 ‘likes.’
Context by Community Notes, X’s user-driven fact-checking feature, has also been affixed to the post, with users stating: “Langford is a heterosexual man. In 2018, the Sorority changed its rules to allow men to join it if they claim to be trans. Langford used this to get a place. Sorority members tried to remove Langford after male pattern lewd behavior but failed due to the 2018 rule change.” A link to earlier Reduxx coverage was then provided as a source.
Despite expressing overwhelming discomfort with Langford’s admission to the sorority, on August 25, Judge Alan Johnson dismissed the case of Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity, claiming that re-defining “woman” to include males was “Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bedrock right as a private, voluntary organization — and one this Court may not invade.”
In his decision, Johnson wrote: “The University of Wyoming chapter voted to admit — and, more broadly, a sorority of hundreds of thousands approved — Langford. With its inquiry beginning and ending there, the Court will not define ‘woman’ today. The delegate of a private, voluntary organization interpreted ‘woman’, otherwise undefined in the non-profit’s bylaws, expansively; this Judge may not invade Kappa Kappa Gamma’s freedom of expressive association and inject the circumscribed definition Plaintiffs urge.”
While the KKG bylaws state that “a new member shall be a woman,” Judge Johnson found that no bylaw defined “woman.” Johnson also cited a 2018 Guide for Supporting our LGBTQIA+ Members which states: “Kappa Kappa Gamma is a single-gender organization comprised of women and individuals who identify as women whose governing documents do not discriminate in membership selection except by requiring good scholarship and ethical character.”
While the female complainants have expressed a desire to appeal the decision, there have b been reports that KKG administrators are attempting to bar the young women from doing so.
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