Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority members at the University of Wyoming (UW) have refiled a lawsuit using their real names after a judge denied their request for anonymity.
Seven members of UW’s Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority chapter brought a lawsuit last month to remove a transgender student from their house. They allege the transgender student has engaged in creepy behavior toward them and made them feel uncomfortable in the sorority house.
The transgender woman at the heart of the lawsuit has yet to respond to those allegations.
The plaintiffs requested anonymity while bringing their suit, citing the potential for public backlash. But Judge Alan B. Johnson ruled twice they could not proceed anonymously.
"Plaintiffs have chosen to level accusations of impropriety against Defendants. They must now shoulder the burden of those accusations and walk in the public eye," Johnson wrote. "This is not one of those few exceptional cases involving a real danger of physical harm."
So six out of the seven plaintiffs refiled the lawsuit using their real names — Jalyn Westenbroek, Hannah Holtmeier, Allison Coghan, Grace Choate, Madeline Ramar and Megan Kosar. All six plaintiffs are out-of-state residents, who came to Wyoming to attend the university.
The plaintiffs also named, for the first time, the transgender student, even though the judge did not specifically order them to include her real name in the amended complaint.
Now that plaintiffs have complied with the judge's order, the lawsuit can proceed. Plaintiffs are asking for the transgender to be removed from the sorority and for a declaration from the court that the sorority's own by-laws forbid "men who identify as women" from joining the organization. They are requesting a jury trial to decide the case.
