An Ohio court decided to transfer a lawsuit to Wyoming’s U.S. District Court because the case was similar to a high-profile one involving the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at the University of Wyoming. The lawsuit deals with whether the sorority can admit transgender women, like Artemis Langford, into its membership.
Judge Michael H. Watson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio explained that because there was already a similar case in Wyoming, the two cases shouldn’t run at the same time. This is because of a legal rule called the “first-to-file” rule, which says the court where the first case was filed should handle the issue.
The original lawsuit began in April 2023 when six Kappa Kappa Gamma members from the University of Wyoming sued the sorority for admitting Langford. This lawsuit was dismissed, and an appeal was also unsuccessful. Meanwhile, two alumni of the sorority, Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith, filed a separate lawsuit in Ohio after they were expelled from Kappa Kappa Gamma. They had opposed the sorority’s policy of allowing transgender women and supported the original plaintiffs.
Kappa Kappa Gamma argued that Levang and Tuck-Smith violated the sorority’s rules, including using the organization’s membership list to contact others about the lawsuit. The sorority’s board expelled them for this, which Levang and Tuck-Smith argue was done in retaliation. They claim that by admitting transgender women, Kappa Kappa Gamma is breaking its own rules about being a single-sex organization.
The case is now in the hands of U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson in Wyoming. This follows a series of legal actions, including the dismissal of the Wyoming case by Judge Johnson in August 2023. He said the plaintiffs didn’t provide enough evidence and ruled that the government shouldn’t interfere with how private groups decide membership. The plaintiffs appealed but lost, and the case has been pending since June 2024.
Judge Watson ruled that the Ohio case should be transferred to Wyoming, pointing out that having two cases on the same issue in different courts could encourage “forum-shopping,” where parties try to find a court more likely to rule in their favor. Watson also noted that the plaintiffs haven’t taken action to move their case forward in Wyoming, raising questions about why they didn’t follow up after the court’s advice.
In the end, the case is now in the hands of new magistrate judge Stephanie A. Hambrick after the previous judge, Scott P. Klosterman, recused himself.