Wyoming
Wyoming sorority asks court to dismiss lawsuit over transgender inclusion, again – WyoFile
Attorneys for Kappa Kappa Gamma are asking a federal court to end the long-running legal battle over the University of Wyoming sorority’s inclusion of a transgender member.
“Much has changed in the more than two years since this case was initially filed,” the plaintiffs wrote in a motion to dismiss filed Friday.
Six members sued the sorority in early 2023 for allegedly breaking its bylaws, breaching housing contracts and misleading sisters when it admitted Artemis Langford, a transgender woman, by a vote of its members.
U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson dismissed the case in August 2023, ruling that the government cannot interfere with how a private, voluntary organization determines its members. Months later, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver also dismissed the case.
That left the sorority sisters — Jaylyn Westenbroek, Hannah Holtmeier, Allison Coghan, Grace Choate, Madeline Ramar and Megan Kosar — two choices. They could amend the complaint or ask the lower court for a final judgement.
Almost a year later, facing a filing deadline, they filed an amended complaint earlier this month that no longer named Langford as a defendant and included a new set of plaintiffs.
“The matter has bounced between this court and the Tenth Circuit,” Friday’s filing states. “Four of the six named plaintiffs have left the case and a new one has joined. Each of the current and former plaintiffs and the former student defendant who attended the University of Wyoming have graduated.”
And yet, attorneys for the sorority argue, “this remains a case where plaintiffs seek to have a federal court dictate to a private organization how inclusive it can be in defining its own membership.” (Emphasis from the filing.)
In Johnson’s 2023 dismissal of the case, he applied the landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale.
In 2000, the high court ruled that the scouting organization was exempt from New Jersey state law that bars anti-gay discrimination. The private organization had fired James Dale, an assistant scout master, when it found out he was gay. Overturning a lower court’s decision, the Supreme Court ruled that requiring the Boy Scouts to readmit Dale would violate the private organization’s First Amendment right of expressive association.
“Dale controls today, interestingly with the shoe on the other foot,” Johnson wrote. “Whether excluding gay scoutmasters in Dale or including transgender women in Kappa, this Judge may not invade Kappa’s sacrosanct, associational right to engage in protected speech.”
Attorneys for the sorority pointed back to this in their Friday filings.
“As was the case when defendants moved to dismiss this case two years ago, plaintiffs have no legal right to have their sorority’s leadership adopt their personal definition of who is and is not a ‘woman,’” the filing states. “And it is not the role of the courts to police the membership decisions of private organizations.”
The legal defects of the amended complaint extend beyond that, the defendants also argue, pointing to a failure of the plaintiffs to properly identify wrongdoing. Kappa’s attorneys also allege that the sorority sisters failed to serve or attempt to serve all defendants.
Johnson’s 2023 dismissal was “without prejudice,” meaning it was not a final decision, and effectively left the sorority sisters the option to amend their complaint.
Kappa’s attorneys are asking the court for a final ruling.
“Defendants respectfully submit that the time has come for the court to put an end to plaintiffs’ attempts to use this court to advance their preferred social agenda within a private organization of more than 210,000 members,” the filing states.
The plaintiffs will now have an opportunity to respond before the court makes a decision.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced earlier this month it’s investigating the University of Wyoming for alleged Title IX violations stemming from the sorority’s inclusion of a transgender member.
The 2026 postseason has arrived for Wyoming High School boys’ basketball teams in Class 3A and 4A. They participate in regional tournaments from Thursday through Saturday. The regionals will be in Buffalo, Evanston, Gillette, and Lovell. Three sites will use the format: two wins qualify a team for the state tournament next week in Casper, or two losses eliminate a team. The 4A East Region has three loser-out first-round games on Thursday, followed by two days of games for seeding. The 4A East Regular Season champ draws a first-round bye and has qualified for the state tournament.
WYOPREPS 3A-4A BOYS BASKETBALL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULES
Except in the 4A East Regional, Friday starts with elimination games. The regional semifinals are on Friday night. The final seeds for next week’s state tournament will be determined on Saturday. The schedules below for this weekend are based on the brackets sent to WyoPreps. It is subject to change.
THURSDAY, MARCH 5:
Final Score: (3) Pinedale 58 (6) Mountain View 40
Final Score: (2) Cody 58 (7) Powell 46
Final Score: (1) Lovell 75 (8) Lyman 43
Final Score: (4) Lander 65 (5) Worland 40
FRIDAY, MARCH 6:
Game 5: Mountain View vs. Powell, noon – loser out
Game 6: Lyman vs. Worland, 1:30 p.m. – loser out
Game 7: Pinedale vs. Cody, 6 p.m. – semifinal
Game 8: Lovell vs. Lander, 7:30 p.m. – semifinal
SATURDAY, MARCH 7:
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 11 a.m. – loser out
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 11 a.m. – loser out (at LMS)
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 5 p.m. – 3rd Place Game
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2 p.m. – Championship Game
THURSDAY, MARCH 5:
Final Score: (3) Douglas 85 (6) Rawlins 50
Final Score: (2) Wheatland 57 (7) Burns 40
Final Score: (5) Torrington 35 (4) Newcastle 28
Final Score: (1) Buffalo 69 (8) Glenrock 44
FRIDAY, MARCH 6:
Game 5: Rawlins vs. Burns, noon – loser out
Game 6: Newcastle vs. Glenrock, 1:30 p.m. – loser out
Game 7: Douglas vs. Wheatland, 6 p.m. – semifinal
Game 8: Torrington vs. Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. – semifinal
SATURDAY, MARCH 7:
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, noon – loser out
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 1:30 p.m. – loser out
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:30 p.m. – 3rd Place Game (if necessary)
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 4:30 p.m. – Championship Game
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THURSDAY, MARCH 5:
Final Score: (NW-3) Kelly Walsh 64 (SW-2) Riverton 49
Final Score: (NW-1) Natrona County 77 (SW-4) Jackson 23
Final Score: (NW-2) Green River 50 (SW-3) Evanston 40
Final Score: (SW-1) Star Valley 62 (NW-4) Rock Springs 60 – Erickson makes a turnaround jumper at the buzzer off an offensive rebound for the Braves.
FRIDAY, MARCH 6:
Game 5: Riverton vs. Jackson, noon – loser out
Game 6: Evanston vs. Rock Springs, 1:30 p.m. – loser out
Game 7: Kelly Walsh vs. Natrona County, 6:30 p.m. – semifinal
Game 8: Green River vs. Star Valley, 8 p.m. – semifinal
SATURDAY, MARCH 7:
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 11:30 a.m. – loser out
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 1 p.m. – loser out
Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11, 4:30 p.m. – 3rd Place Game (at EMS)
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 4:30 p.m. – Championship Game
THURSDAY, MARCH 5:
Game 1: (1) Sheridan = Bye
Final Score: (2) Cheyenne Central 75 (7) Cheyenne South 35 – Bison are eliminated
Final Score: (3) Thunder Basin 75 (6) Laramie 59 – Plainsmen are eliminated; Bolts qualify for state
Final Score: (4) Campbell County 59 (5) Cheyenne East 39 – loser out; Thunderbirds are eliminated; Camels qualify for state.
FRIDAY, MARCH 6:
Game 6: Cheyenne Central vs. Thunder Basin, 4:30 p.m. – semifinal
Game 5: Sheridan vs. Campbell County, 7:30 p.m. – semifinal
SATURDAY, MARCH 7:
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:30 a.m. – 3rd Place Game
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 2:30 p.m. – Championship Game
James Johnson Winter Showcase Basketball Tournament 2026
Photos from game action at the James Johnson Winter Showcase tournament in Cheyenne.
Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Shannon Dutcher
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