Artemis Langford asked God for an answer.
At the time, she was 14 and living in Lander with her family. They had settled there after moving around the Mountain West, making stops in Montana and Utah. Along the way, Langford was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and for a while that felt like an explanation. All her life, something inside her hadn’t felt right. She struggled making and keeping friends, and she felt discomfort in her body.
“Something wasn’t computing,” Langford said. “Everything internal was not matching what was external.”
Unable to communicate this feeling to others, Langford looked to God. Having grown up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, turning to prayer was second nature.
“Please, tell me who I am,” Langford recalls praying. “Am I really transgender?”
Langford was assigned male at birth. As she grew into a teenager, that gender identity felt increasingly at odds with who she was. But she feared the cost of being herself and worried about rejection from her family and her community. Each day she prayed.
Finally, on a Monday morning in March 2016, Langford got her answer.
She had spent the night before kneeling over her twin bed in the dark, whispering so no one else in the house would hear.
“Just settle the issue once and for all,” she prayed.
Exhausted and scared, she eventually dozed off, hands still clasped. When she woke early the next morning, there was a powerful silence.
The creaky house stood still. There was no bird song, no whoosh of passing cars, no howling wind. Her mind had quieted. She felt at peace.
Langford had her answer.
“It’s OK to be trans,” she recalls thinking. “This is who I am.”
Here and now
Langford is 21 years old now. Her junior year at the University of Wyoming starts next week. She’s Episcopalian and a rising member of the Wyoming Democratic Party. She fancies herself a train buff and enjoys playing board games and kayaking. She’s tall with black hair. She squints her dark eyes when she smiles or laughs, and when she speaks she’s thoughtful about her words.
The last year of her life has been anything but peaceful. After making history last fall as the first openly transgender woman to join a sorority at UW, Langford has been at the center of a right-wing media frenzy. She’s been misgendered, scrutinized via feminine beauty standards and depicted as a sexual predator masquerading as a young woman in order to gain access to the sorority. (Langford does not live at the sorority house, nor will she during the upcoming academic year.)
Some of her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters have defended her. Others filed a lawsuit in late March, asking a judge to void her membership in the private organization on the premise that she doesn’t fit their definition of a woman. The six plaintiffs, who originally set out to be anonymous in the suit, accuse Langford of “inappropriate and threatening behavior,” such as watching other women and asking personal questions. The plaintiffs also take aim at Langford for being gay, stating that her attraction to women makes her “more threatening.”
Langford denies the allegations of inappropriate behavior.
“The lawsuit against Artemis is horrible, false, and causing harm to Artemis and other trans people,” Rachel Berkness, her attorney, said in a statement to WyoFile. “The personal attacks are reminiscent of every attack against queer and trans people throughout history. One sorority sister even admitted that the worst allegation against Artemis didn’t actually happen, but they’ve never corrected that misstatement before the Court.”
Since news of Langford joining KKG broke last fall, she’s usually avoided speaking to the press. But in that silence, rumors and speculation festered. People with little or no connection speculated about her story, her motivations, her behavior. She became an idea, built from fear and uncertainty and even hatred, distinct from the actual person.
Now, after almost a year of others speaking for and about her, Langford chose to share her story with WyoFile.
This is Artemis Langford.
National spotlight
The lawsuit against Langford and her sorority has drawn the attention of some of the biggest names in conservative media. In May, the plaintiffs and their lead attorney, Cassie Craven, appeared on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle as well as The Megyn Kelly Show.
“You can put lipstick on a pig, that doesn’t make it a lady,” Craven told Kelly, to the laughter of her clients flanking her. Earlier in the program, photos and videos of Langford splashed across the screen while her height, weight and genitals became fodder for discussion.
Caitlyn Jenner — who was widely considered the most famous transgender woman in the world when she came out in 2015 — also appeared on Fox News in May to call Langford “a perverted, sexually deviant male” to an audience of millions.
To some extent, Langford knew what she was getting into by joining a sorority. Back when she first accepted herself as a girl, she understood her very existence would be controversial to some.
“There will always be people that are going to be upset with anything that I do and anywhere I go,” she said.
She knew her decision to join a sorority would elicit maybe one ugly news story. And initially she had tried to get ahead of it.
“There does come a price tag to being a first, and it comes with people in our current political situation that are detractors that do not want that,” Langford told the Branding Iron, UW’s student paper, last October. At the time, she was on the staff. It was her second year on campus, and she was living openly as a trans woman.
“But to those detractors I say that I understand where you’re coming from, but at the end of the day, I wish that they would see me as who I am.
“I am Artemis Langford. I’m from Lander, Wyoming. I went to high school here. I love this state. I love this campus and community. And I just hope that they’d see me as the person I am and not the ideology that they perceive me as.”
The story broke the news of Langford’s historic induction when it published on Oct. 12. It flew under the radar for a few days. Then Cowboy State Daily — a news outlet that has subsequently faced allegations of transphobia and right-wing bias — reached out to Langford for comment.
She declined in light of KKG’s media policy that forbids members from speaking to the press without going through an approval process — something she’d done to speak to the student paper.
Cowboy State Daily published its first of many stories about Langford on Oct. 17, the day before her birthday. Using a photo taken from her Facebook page and quotes from the Branding Iron story, the article made note of Langford being assigned male at birth, but using language now out of line with current journalistic practice.
Artemis Langford poses for a portrait in August 2023. (WyoFile/Niki Chan Wylie)
It also referenced “multiple community members” who allegedly contacted the outlet with concerns about “living situations and facilities usage in the sorority house.”
“These people declined to be identified or comment publicly out of fear for social repercussions,” the report stated. (The Associated Press’ guidelines, long considered the journalistic standard in the U.S., advises material from anonymous sources may be used only if it is information and not opinion or speculation.)
The floodgates opened.
In a matter of hours, Washington Examiner and The Post Millennial published stories about Langford. The National Review ran a story by that Friday in which an unnamed sorority sister of Langford’s was quoted.
Before the month was over, Newsmax aired a segment about Langford.
The national spotlight eclipsed Langford’s wildest expectations of what was to come. Overnight, her everyday life as a small-town college student — from walking across UW’s campus to sitting in class — transformed.
“What if someone comes up to me?” Langford remembers thinking. “Or what if someone tries to harm me?”
Research shows that transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime.
By December, when things had quieted down, the news cycle reignited. Todd Schmidt, a Laramie church leader, placed a banner in UW’s student union on Dec. 2, naming and intentionally misgendering Langford. The sign was removed, and Schmidt eventually had some of his union privileges revoked, but the incident effectively stirred the pot. Conservative lawmakers and the secretary of state weighed in, backing Schmidt.
Once again, Langford found herself in the middle of a news cycle, all while trying to prepare for finals week.
She got the impression that most UW students were either indifferent to the state of affairs or were simply trying to get through the last couple weeks of the semester. From the LGBTQ community on campus, Langford felt solidarity and her larger support network came through to support her, too. Still, there were other moments that made her feel uneasy.
“There’s just the quiet hostility of trying to make you feel like you don’t belong by staring at you, by the whispers or the glares and all that,” Langford said. It brought her back to being bullied as a kid in elementary school.
“It’s like the silent treatment,” she said, “but worse.”
Coming out
It was one thing for Langford to recognize and accept her gender identity after her message from God. Coming out to others was another. In particular, she worried how her parents would react, both of them being conservative and religious.
“I was very fearful, you know, if they found out or if I told them prematurely or in a way that I couldn’t convey, ‘This is who I am,’ then there would be very bad repercussions,” Langford said. She feared being abandoned or forced to undergo conversion therapy. So she devised a plan.
A high school freshman at this point, she made a list of every person she wanted to come out to and gave herself deadlines. One by one, she checked off names, which included Nate Shoutis, her librarian at Lander Valley High School.
“She went about it very, very deliberately,” Shoutis said.
Shoutis first got to know Langford when he was advisor for the SPEAK club, the school’s Genders and Sexualities Alliance organization. Langford had joined during her freshman year, before she’d come out. After God answered her question, she began to share her chosen name — Artemis — with some members of the group. She’d also picked out “Arty” as both a nickname and bridge between her old name and her new one.
One of the first things Shoutis noticed about Langford was her dedication and willingness to always help. She came to every SPEAK meeting, even sophomore year after the group had shrunk from many of its members graduating.
“Arty was one person who really kind of stayed at the nucleus of it, even when it was struggling,” Shoutis said.
It was clear Langford knew who she was, Shoutis said.
When the library ended up with a bunch of empty boxes from a shipment of new laptops, SPEAK club members stacked them on the auditorium stage ahead of a school assembly. When the time came, Langford busted through the boxes before giving a speech about the club.
“It was just hilarious,” Shoutis said. “Arty was brave. It’s hard to get up in front of the whole student body and do this kind of thing. And she did it in a really fun, kind of out there way.”
Langford continued with her coming out plan through her sophomore year. Little by little, she tested the waters, being herself in the places she knew it was safe to do so. By graduation, she collected her diploma as Artemis.
At home, things didn’t go according to her plan.
About a week before her 16th birthday, Langford’s parents confronted her. They’d gone looking through her laptop after they noticed a change in behavior. She’d been distant, less enthused about going to church.
Her browser history — “how to tell your parents you’re trans” — had given her away. Langford felt ambushed and unprepared to have the conversation.
“When you can’t speak the same language about something, then it’s really hard to understand,” she said.
Her worst fears didn’t materialize. She wasn’t abandoned but she also wasn’t fully accepted. Her relationship with her parents, whom she’d been fairly close with before, changed.
“Not being able to fully be myself at home, not feeling comfortable being at home, that was really hard during those years,” Langford said.
It was hard on her parents’ marriage, too. They’re no longer together. But Langford remains dedicated.
“Family is something you always are working on,” she said. “With my parents, for one in particular, it’s gonna be a long road.”
There and back
Langford’s last months as a high school student were upended by a global pandemic, so she was especially eager for a fresh start and possibility at college. With her sights set on city life, she moved to the West Coast to attend Western Washington University in Bellingham. (The lawsuit erroneously states that Langford attended Eastern Washington University and lived in Bellevue.)
With more than 92,000 people, Bellingham was about three times the size of anywhere Langford had ever lived. It was different, mostly in ways she enjoyed, like the walks she’d take near the ocean. It seemed like a place where she could be herself more completely. But the timing was wrong.
With the pandemic still in full tilt, her classes were online and campus was largely shuttered. She encountered health issues and found herself isolated, bed-ridden and thousands of miles away from her support system. By that spring, she knew she needed to go home.
Despite spending her adolescence dead set on getting out of Dodge, she longed for Wyoming.
“I missed seeing the mountains here and the dry air and the prairie,” Langford said. “I missed that part.”
It didn’t take long after enrolling at UW in fall 2021 to know it was the right choice. Classes were in-person, and she was making friends. While limited to a tight student budget, she was buying and wearing more of the clothes that suited her. It was the college experience she had hoped for.
“I felt like I was at home and I was in a place that I could survive, even, possibly thrive,” Langford said.
She declared as a history major and got involved with student government. That’s where she became friends with Tanner Ewalt. The two bonded over their experiences as young, queer people raised in Wyoming.
“We talk about politics a lot because that’s where we’re both really involved,” Ewalt said. “We also talk about history and music and books.”
When school is in session, the two like to grab lunch and muse about political theory, “like the real boring nerd stuff,” Ewalt said. While he’s the pie-in-the-sky one between the two of them, Ewalt said, Langford is the pragmatist.
They commiserate together, too.
Last spring, Wyoming broke with a 46-year tradition of defeating bills to restrict LGBTQ civil rights. State statute now prohibits transgender girls from competing in middle- and high-school girls sports events (there are only four such student athletes, according to a letter signed by Gov. Mark Gordon). The two texted throughout the session as the bill made its way through the process.
“I do think that kind of moment when things were getting real scary during the last session, that’s when Artemis and I became pretty good friends,” Ewalt said.
The political debate Langford and Ewalt return to again and again is whether to stay and fight for the place they love, or give it up for lost.
“Maybe the people of Wyoming aren’t this hateful. Maybe the problem is just a few people in the statehouse,” Ewalt said. “And then we would talk about all the moments that we’ve had where even the most unexpected people were shockingly supportive. It’s a lot of recalling better times, or half-joking about the worst-case scenario.”
Another news cycle
Langford’s experience in student government is what first spurred her interest in joining a sorority. The students most engaged in UW’s campus community, she noticed, were Greek life members. But really, Langford said, she joined for many of the same reasons anybody else does.
She was drawn to the idea of lifelong connections, academic and professional support, and having a place on campus where she would be accepted for who she is.
“That’s why I wanted to be a part of it,” Langford said.
In March, when some of Langford’s sorority sisters filed the lawsuit, another news cycle ignited. This one was arguably the biggest and most-prolonged one yet, catching the attention of news giants like Fox News and Breitbart.
It’s been a terrifying thing to watch unfold, said Sara Burlingame, executive director of Wyoming Equality, a LGBTQ advocacy group.
She’s known Langford since she was a Lander Valley High School student. Back then, Langford was a page for the Wyoming Legislature while Burlingame represented House District 44.
Burlingame can remember Langford’s last day at the Legislature. It’s a tradition that pages give a short speech that day.
“She’s really so tender about these old, gruff Republican men who were kind to her,” Burlingame said. One she thanked for noticing when she got her hair done, another she complimented for his three-piece suit, made up of a leather vest and wool blazer.
“She wanted to say how much that meant to her, like all these little things,” Burlingame said. “And then she just talked about how she feels about the budget.”
That’s Langford, Burlingame said, softhearted for people and earnest about her interests.
“If all you read is Cowboy State Daily, if all you’ve seen is Breitbart and Fox News, you would think that Artemis Langford is a monster,” Burlingame said.
“It’s been something to see happen in front of me just how that media creates a dangerous mob,” she said. In response, Langford has locked down her social media accounts and purchased pepper spray and a personal alarm system.
WyoFile reached out to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland, the reporter who has authored most of the outlet’s numerous stories about Langford. The inquiry included specific questions about criticisms and how the outlet makes editorial decisions.
In response, Executive Editor Jimmy Orr sent a four-sentence statement, two of which boasted about the number of clicks the outlet’s headlines regularly receive. The statement did not answer most of WyoFile’s questions other than to take issue with the mainstream journalistic guidance on the terminology to use when discussing transgender people.
“We will continue to use accurate terms like ‘biological male’ and ‘biological female’ rather than Orwellian phrases like ‘assigned male at birth,’” Orr wrote.
Despite the turmoil of the last year, Langford said she wouldn’t do anything differently.
“My only regret is how much pain the lawsuit has caused my sisters caught in between all this and also all the loved ones in my life,” she said.
“I’m never gonna give up on organizations, issues and people that I love,” Langford added. “I’m proud to be a member of my chapter and I don’t think I’ll ever regret being a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.”
Star gazing
Right now, things are quiet again. Classes start soon. Langford is waiting for a judge to make a decision on the lawsuit. Her attorney filed two separate motions in June — one to dismiss Langford from the suit, another to throw the case out altogether.
“The reality is this lawsuit is being used as clickbait so that the plaintiffs’ lawyers can raise money at the expense of a kind and wonderful student in our community,” Langford’s lawyer said. “I hope people look back at this case in the same way they look back at other attacks on members of minority groups in our history — as shameful and not who we are.”
With legal uncertainty hanging over her head, Langford’s ready to return to campus. It’s with a mix of emotions, both optimism and dread. To prepare, she’s been praying a lot. She’s intent on performing well academically in her junior year. She won’t be living in the sorority house, but she’s still a member. Though she doesn’t expect it, she’d like for this school year to be quieter than the last.
“It’s a little bit like Murphy’s law,” she said, meaning the adage that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
“But I have determination that even if that happens, just like everything else, I can get through it,” Langford said. “People around me, I think, will help.”
She’s hoping for more ordinary days than extraordinary ones.
Her perfect day would start without an alarm, she said. Other obligations, like school or work, would also be off the table, making room for a cozy Netflix binge or uninterrupted time with a good book. She’d grab lunch with a friend. It would be warm enough to wear one of her favorite dresses, like the black one with red flowers on it, with her jean jacket.
She’d have something good for dinner before heading to the Laramie rail bridge to gaze at the stars or watch the trains thundering by. She enjoys wondering where the trains are heading, where they’ve come from.
“Then being able to end the day, just being able to thank God for the beautiful day and falling asleep to the sound of rain or something,” she said. “That sounds really nice.”
As the father of a transgender female child, who is also on the spectrum, I am expressing my profound gratitude to Artemis, for her remarkable courage and persistence in the face of painful cruelty. I wish also to acknowledge the decency, courage, and compassion shown by others on campus, including so many of her sorority sisters. Her story reminds me that in the end, all each of us has to rely on when seeking to retain our sense of our truest selves is our own courage and that of others who dare to stand with us. Thanks for this piece. It feels like an antidote to fear!
The people who are misguided here are not the ones searching for identity but the ones who think they have the moral high ground to sit in judgement. I’m not afraid of people who don’t conform to the expected societal roles. I am afraid of people who think we all need to be like them. And I feel shame for being a part of the same species.
I’m always astounded by the open hatred of people suffering from a well documented mental illness by so-called “Christians”. Gender Dysphoria is a well-documented condition that has been around as long as gender roles have, yet so self proclaimed geneticists act as though it only emerged after Kaitlyn Jenner came out. Even if this person is “mentally ill”, are they not entitled to the same pursuit of happiness as anyone else. It disgusts me how the same party that claims to support individual liberties and freedom of speech is so quick to want to oppress others when they disagree with their “lifestyle”. Why do you care if a man wants to wear makeup? Who’s really the snowflake if that bothers you THAT much? As it seems the majority of that sorority opened her with open arms. As always, there will be the small handful who don’t get their way and file a bogus lawsuit. I don’t normally waste time engaging in unfruitful internet debate with keyboard Karens but I’m so tired of trans women being immediately labeled as predators by ignorant people. If you knew anything about the process of medical transitioning you know trans women are typically chemically castrated from hormones and medication. One transwoman doing something “creepy” does not make all perverts anymore than one man being a rapist makes all men rapists. While I take no issue with crossdressers, it is not the same as someone living as the opposite sex, aka being transgender.
I find it incredibly sad that a man’s delusion is seen as more important than women’s safety and comfort. All we can do now is hope that the actual girls in the sorority keep fighting this travesty. And I sincerely hope his time in the girl’s sorority house will not be the perverse opportunity he hopes it will be; they may have to let him in, but they do not have to make his time there enjoyable.
The mental hoops one must jump through to normalize a man wearing lipstick in a women’s organization is nothing short of sheer insanity. What Artemis needs, as an autistic man, is proper mental health support, not others playing into his delusion. You are doing him and the people around him a disservice by entertaining the idea that he is a woman. He is not. We need to stop this nonsense and get him the help he deserves.
Thank you for telling your story. You are brave, thoughtful, and kind. Congrats Artemis on your win today!
Artemis, has had a journey unlike many people. It takes great courage to identify who you are. May you have peace and enjoy this school year. Your are a human being and deserve the same respect as those who are confident in their gender. Thank you for sharing your journey, well done.
Ms. Lankford is an inspiring and truly courageous young woman. As always, great reporting from WyoFile, however there is a factual error that really ought to be corrected: you refer to Cowboy State Daily as a “news outlet.” At this point, I think we can say that is demonstrably false. Call it a “media outlet” or a “tabloid” if you wish but to refer to it as “news” is insulting to actual journalists.
Artemis has such a beautiful soul and I’m so glad that I was able to get to know her my last semester at UW.
Well, she is a he, regardless of how much you want to play make believe. He was born a boy, and is a boy. I assure you, God did not tell him anything to the contrary, more pretend nonsense. Mental Illness is real folks, and by placating him, you are only making his delirium more profound, as well as your own!
How very judgemental. Speak to OBgyns about at birth gender identification. Or just be compassionate. This is no different than being gay it ß no in
Nobody is identifying “gender” at birth. They’re identifying sex.
Shouldn’t you be defending arsonists who try to destroy women’s health clinics?
Artemis, I am hoping you have that quiet school year you so deserve. Thanks for letting us get to know you a little. Great article!
Thanks for this profile! Artemis is an extremely self-aware individual and is comfortable in her skin. It is true that the majority of the student body are supportive but would like this issue to get less attention compared to more pressing issues bearing down on upcoming college graduates.
Thank you Artemis and Maggie for sharing your story with us. We can all learn from your experience and we can all feel the love that you have received and still will welcome and need. In 2023 we are hearing more about transgender people.In time this will become old news and life will go on. Good luck Artemis, study hard and enjoy a life’s profession that will make this a better world to live in.ba
I had the pleasure of working on a recent political campaign with Artemis, a funny, smart, kind and considerate human being. If we were all to emulate her, the world would be a better place.
I am so proud of Artemis, and so glad she is finally getting to tell her story. Wyoming would be a better place with more people like her.
Thanks so much for letting Artemis tell us who she is and why she makes the choices she makes. We all have a lot to learn about transgender people, and the best place to learn is from those people themselves. Great photographs too!
A little off topic, but taking Cowboy State Daily to task sounds a little like retaliation for WyoFile letting a fake person post inaccurate information about Cat Urbigkit. Good article, would have much better without the obvious bias – from a media organization that supposedly prides itself on presenting just the facts. You can do better
Very tastefully done. All of us are real people, not just what labels get thrown at us.
It would help if people stopped using those labels, but Divisive outsiders have bought the loyalty of a certain political leader and some mindless people keep echoing him.
Thank you for an excellent article which needed to be written. It’s sad that our state is known for its hatefulness. I’m glad that Arty and Tanner are staying here and sharing their ideas and talents. Be safe, Arty.
Really appreciated this story. Thank you, Artemis and Maggie!
Live and speak your truth Artemis. Your life is your own and only you know how to live it in a way that is authentic to you.
As for the preacher who targeted you, do not be angry with him, but pity him.
The strong correlation between trans identity and autism spectrum disorder has been recognized over the last three years by such professional organizations as the National Autism Society, The Institutes of Health, Autism Research Institute, and studies published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Noted was the observation that autistic youths were up to 6 times more likely to identify as trans than a similar non-autistic demographic. The medical field recognizes and treats autism as a disorder, not a normal expression of the spectrum of the human condition. Since it appears that trans gender identity is resultant from ASD, it should also be treated as a disorder rather than celebrated.
If you can a get a majority of qualified medical and mental health professionals to sign off on it, I have no objection. The problem is that the research you quote does not say transgenderism is caused by autism, it states that transgender individuals are represented in the autistic population at 6% to 1.8%. There is no study that shows any correlation between the two. Males are over represented in the autistic population at a ratio of 4:1 compared to females. Does this mean autism causes individuals to have testicles? Should being a male be considered a disorder? Of course not.
Check out Chloe Cole’s story.
Nice story, well told. However,one question arises. Kappa Kappa Gamma has a charter and in that charter the laws governing admission into the sorority are clearly spelled out. You must attain and maintain a specific grade point average (GPA) to be admitted into the sorority as a member in good standing. It is my understanding that Artemis clearly did not have the average required to be admitted. It appears that KKG maneuvered the rules to allow admission. Was this done out of fear of being called transphobic? I don’t know, but how many students have sought admission only to be turned away because of this particular rule? My only issue with this is that the rules seem to be different depending on who is applying. There has been little or no coverage concerning this issue. The people reading this article should be exposed to all of the facts regarding the issue. Wil KKG admit that they circumvented the rules to admit one student while denying admission to others solely because they did not have the required GPA? If Artemis meets those requirements fine. Let’s explore all the facts pertinent to the case, then you’re readers will be able to make a more well informed decision. Good reporting represents all sides of an issue!
Ah, but that’s expecting a “transwoman” to have to play by the same rules that are applied to those who are simply “women.” Despite the fact that some people fall all over themselves to “validate” men like Langford, it never occurs to them to treat a trans identified man like they would an actual woman. In fact, it’s almost as if they know they’re somehow different…
In addition to the fact that membership was granted despite lacking the required GPA, there are serious allegations in the original
complaint that the “vote” taken as this person was considered for membership followed a period of coercion, threats and bullying leveled at existing chapter members and that the rules, regulations and procedures required of every Kappa membership vote were completely disregarded. All, allegedly, in a concerted effort to insure a membership for this individual. The allegations are spelled out in detail in the lawsuit. I wish you had asked the subject of this article whether or not they care that the “membership” was possibly fraudulently granted. Why would you want to belong to any group whose members only asked you to join because they were threatened and lied to? And, as for the sorority, if the allegations of all of these behind-the-scene machinations aren’t true, they need to go on the record and tell the truth; addressing all of charges by several of the chapter members (who are apparently lying about everything that went on in that chapter as this membership was approved). Kappa continues to insist that members have the absolute right to decide who to accept into membership and if that did not happen in this case, that hypocrisy is telling. Just as it is wrong to discriminate against anyone is trans, making sure multiple rules are disregarded or changed to deliberately place them in a place where they are not welcome is equally horrible.
To those who are so black and white, do you know the multitude of variations that have happened with humans throughout history.
We are not just male or female. What about people born with both sex organs and or various body parts lacking or present? Doctors have made decisions and assigned a sex often erroneously.
These people are human beings that are simply different.? Huge variations have always happened.? Those people are not mentally ill.
Judgements are made in ignorance and because of personal discomfort about things not understood. When they are made by people claiming to be Christians charged to do unto others as you would have them do unto you and not to judge is ironic.
It is outrageous that news media publishes bigoted, ignorant pieces and then call themselves credible.
Thank you for your courage and the superb reporting in this piece.
Artemis Langford is brave and beautiful. The people who caused this ruckus are hateful, and transphobic. I have lived in Wyoming for a long time and am ashamed of this behavior. Have we learned nothing since Matthew Shepard?
I’m glad this story was published. Artemis, thank you for sharing your side. I hope your Junior year is successful and quiet. It’s tough to ignore the ignorant, but you have people who support you. Thank you for sharing your story and thank you to Maggie and WyoFile for giving it a place.
Thank you, Artimis for staying in Wyoming to make it better. The following quote from this article is reflective of debates many young people I know have had, and sadly for us, too many have chosen to leave. “The political debate Langford and Ewalt return to again and again is whether to stay and fight for the place they love, or give it up for lost. “
Hello Kris, As an alumnus of the university of wyoming, I am apalled to learn about how Artemis has been treated, but I am encouraged by the bravery of Artemis. Let us all support others in being who they are and help right the wrongs of the past! Choose love and bravery over hatred and fear.
Artimis, you are brave, you are beautiful and a perfect valued child of God just as you are. We are called to love all. It’s no one’s right to judge someone. Life is hard enough without facing condemnation.
God is big enough to love you as you are. If someone thinks God isn’t, I suggest you find a new God, because God is love, not judgment. I’m so sorry you face ignorance and condemnation. I wish I had a chance to know you.
That old saying, hate the sin, love the sinner? That’s BS. Everyone commits sins and
non-binary expression of gender is not sin in the first place. May blessings be upon you as you start a new school year.
No such thing as transgender. There are two sexes which are decided at birth by nature. Any doubt beyond that is a mental disorder and needs to be treated as such.
There have been examples of transgender people throughout history, just as there have been gay people. People need to be allowed to live in ways that make them their most authentic selves. Artemis Langford is hurting no one.
How would you describe a person born with both male and female genitalia?
What a great profile and reminder that empathy costs us nothing. I hope I get to meet Artemis someday. The comments on this article are already demonstrating the broad support she has in the state. On a personal note, I have been including this link in my email signature – https://pronouns.org/what-and-why – and include here it as a quick resource for anyone who still wonders why a person’s preferred pronouns are important. There is more between heaven and earth, and treating people well, Jimmy Orr, than is dreamt of in your philosophy.
“Langford was assigned male at birth.” Up until five minutes ago, throughout all of history for English-speaking people, this phrase was simply, succinctly and accurately stated as “Langford was born a male” or, aghast, “Langford was born a boy.” The language surrounding the topic of transgenderism is purposefully confusing to obfuscate fact and reality. I applaud Jimmy Orr, and Cowboy State Daily, in using language that clarifies truth rather than obscuring it. WyoFile would do well to follow suit.
You may prefer the language used by Cowboy State Daily to address this particular, but to suggest that it sets an example for any other publication with its journalistic standards is patently ridiculous.
Thank you for this story.
Thank you for covering Arty’s story. I hope her journey opens doors and helps make it a little easier for those who follow behind her. Stay strong Arty!
Great article. Good to read about how real people live and cope and suffer and thrive. Thanks!
Yes, people struggle and need to cope and survive. By letting them believe and helping them try to become something that they are not and that is not even a true existence you are hurting them instead of helping them with the real problem. The mental issues they have that is causing them to suffer.
Hang in there Artemis. Reading comments, it’s clear that you have many more supporters than detractors. Also clear that those who speak against you are ignorant more than hateful. You’re a trailblazer and a courageous young woman. You have much to contribute to Wyoming, and to our country.
Thank you Maggie Mullen and WyoFile for this article.
This captures the Artemis that so many of us know and love. I am continually reminded to be more compassionate, thoughtful and optimistic through Artemis’ example and every conversation we have. Thank you, Maggie, for sharing that with a wider audience – such a gift.
Artemis is a beautiful gem! Thank you so much for capturing her story in such an honoring way.
So glad Maggie at WyoFile and Artemis have put Artemis’ personal story out there…I have seen the headlines and stories provided by most local newsmedia… They are more interested in making sensational headlines to further their viewership than to deal with the fact that an actual person’s life is being trashed by their comments.
Nice story. But in the end. He is still a male. Only 2 sexes. Male/Female. This has gotten blown out of proportion. In the end there is also an Agenda. One needs to back into History. Ironically that is young Langford’s major I believe as stated in article. Look how this gender issue had exploded in Europe early 1900’s. Especially Germany in lead up to WW2. Thailand in modern times has become leader in sex tourism because of the “gender” trend ( we shall call it). Nothing more than history repeating its self. There is no such thing as “transgender”. Just male pretending to be woman or woman pretending to be male. Only 2 sexes. That’s it. Lot of confusion out here for some reason
“Especially Germany in lead up to WW2.” — yes, when the Nazis burned books about gender fluidity and imprisoned and killed LGBTQ folks. Are you aware that you’re arguing against your own position?
Matt. My point was how society was decaying. That was the point. Hitler and Brown shirts were not in charge. Years from it. The problem exsisted long before they came to power. Irony is that numerous leading Democrats of time was very pro Hitler/brown shirts leading up to start of WW2. FDR/Joe Kennedy stayed with them to long/Americas hero Charles Lindbergh all huge Hitler supporters. Society is decaying now. Just like then. Do any of you really believe if CCP OR WEF takes over that this will be tolerated? Not on your life will it be tolerated in their planned Society. Right now they are using it as tool to destroy their enemy. USA. When or if we fall these same groups will go to the gas chambers. After all Russia has starved 40 plus million of its citizens. China has history of what 50-60 million wiped out. Turkey has its genocide. As does many communist countries. This behavior won’t be tolerated. History shows it. We just in repeat cycle right now.
Well done to Maggie and Artemis.
Thank you for such an accurate, well-written story. I applaud you.
To Sister Artemis:
I think there is a point most media have missed. You did not ‘sign up’ for KKG. You were invited and accepted, after our sisters at UW had interviewed and become acquainted with you. I imagine any resistance may come from fear of the unknown, or at least a lifetime of indoctrination. You sound like an exceptional person and I wish you well. I encourage any KKG UW members, who are anxious, to reflect upon their own understanding and kindness, or lack thereof.Thanks to Maggie for her story. Signed, Sandy Shuptrine, a KKG member since the ’60s.
Under Title IX, the legal definition of sexual discrimination states clearly that discrimination is present when there is ‘disparate treatment, disparate impact or retaliation’. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, since June 15 of 2020, now encompasses discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status. Title VII jurisprudence is used to inform Title IX decisions. One cannot read this story and not see that this rises to the threshold of disparate and retaliatory. Go Artemis!
Thank you, Artemis, for sharing who you are with us. You sound like a wonderful young woman!
Sincere thanks to Artemis Langford for sharing part of her personal story, and Maggie Mullen for conveying that with clarity and empathy.
Thanks to WyoFile for putting this story together. Thanks to Artemis for being a trailblazer. Hang in there, gal! There are people rooting for you.
Well done WYOFILE, Mullen and Langford. It is refreshing and enlightening to see a fair presentation of Langford’s story.
Artemis Langford is a man masquerading as a woman. This is perverse. Not hateful simply the truth.
FACT
have you asked her if she thinks she is a man masquerading as a woman? Before you make such a statement, make sure it’s accurate.
I have not asked him. He was born a male as described in the article. He cannot think himself into being a woman. He can do awful things to his body, but genetically he remains a man. To believe otherwise is science fiction.
It may not be as cut and dry as you’d like to believe. I suspect that ongoing research may support your position less than more. Hopefully, additional research will take the political and religious biases out of the conversation.
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/29/identify-straight-gay-transgender-that-may-be-deeply-influenced-by-genetics-study-shows/
Thank you so much for a kind and accurate picture of who Arty really is. Cowboy State Daily has been so cruel and just plain awful.
Great reporting, Maggie!
Thank you for this insightful story, which clears up so many misconceptions about this young person’s life.
Artemis is one of my favorite people in the world. She’s so passionate about everything she does and it’s extremely inspiring. I’m lucky to know her.