MSNBC host Yasmin Vossoughian called Artemis Langford, a biological male who self-identifies as a woman, a “very brave woman” in an interview Sunday, less than two weeks after a judge allowed him to remain a member of a sorority.
Langford, formerly known as Dallin, joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) chapter at the University of Wyoming in December. Three months later, six sorority members sued KKG and its membership for letting Langford in, alleging, in part, that the 6-foot-2, 260-pound man behaved inappropriately toward women living in campus sorority house.
Langford, who has denied all allegations against him, believes the lawsuit targets him for identifying as a woman. “It’s never okay to be attacked on [your] identity,” he lets people know in the interview.
Vossoughian seems to agree the women victimized Langford, sympathizing with him for starting his junior year “thinking about [a] lawsuit” instead of his classes. She asks him how it feels that “members of [his] sorority didn’t want [him] to be a part of it.”
She further asks Langford to expound on the harassment he experienced on campus, which included “glares,” “passive aggression,” and being purposely “bumped.” She never mentions or asks about the allegations of sexual impropriety against him.
The interview casts Langford as a hapless victim of a group of exclusionary mean girls to millions of viewers, effectively ignoring 11 women’s alleged experience of sexual intimidation and the legal intricacies of their case.
The six women and five non-party witnesses sued Kappa Kappa Gamma for initiating Langford, arguing Langford’s alleged conduct — enabled by KKG leadership’s decision to initiate him — caused the plaintiffs emotional harm and loss of privacy.
The women claim Langford silently watched sorority house residents on several occasions, often without their knowledge, before becoming visibly aroused. They also allege Langford took pictures of sorority house residents without their knowledge or consent and asked inappropriate questions about their bodies.
Though the judge made the disappointing decision to dismiss this claim, these allegations have not been disproven or properly investigated. For an outlet like MSNBC, who fiercely championed the #MeToo movement and encouraged people to “believe all women,” to disregard 11 women claiming they faced sexual aggression in favor of assuring a man he is welcome in a women’s only sorority, reads like the prologue to an Orwellian parody.
Even disregarding the women’s claims — which should not be done until they are properly investigated and adjudicated — suggesting the women attacked Langford for his identity is patently false. They are indisputably a group of women who joined a women-only organization and paid for women-only housing who were forced to cohabitate with a male. When their concerns were ignored or belittled by their organization, the women sued KKG, not Langford.
Vossoughian’s narrative — whether recklessly or willfully — violates journalistic standards of objectivity and thorough reporting. Calling a man who allegedly violated the privacy and modesty of several women, “a brave woman,” just adds insult to injury.
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