Nebraska lawmakers gave final approval late Wednesday to legislation barring transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity, one of the last Republican-led states to do so.
State senators in Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature voted 33-16 to pass the measure along party lines, sending the bill to Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, who wrote on social media that he looks forward to signing it.
State Republicans pushed back on arguments from Democrats Wednesday that the measure, Legislative Bill 89, discriminates against transgender students, arguing such a law is necessary to protect female students and maintain fairness in girls’ and women’s sports.
“L.B. 89 is not about shutting doors,” said state Sen. Loren Lippincott (R), one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “It’s about opening the right ones.”
Nebraska Sen. John Fredrickson (D), one of two openly LGBTQ people serving in the state Legislature, said Wednesday, “I believe we want to protect women. I think we also know this is not the way to do it.”
“This legislature has made it clear that instead of addressing the real, material concerns of young people in Nebraska, we’re going to use our power to punch down,” said state Sen. Megan Hunt, an independent and the first LGBTQ person elected to the Legislature.
“What we’re doing with L.B. 89 — it’s not protecting anyone. We’re not making schools safer; we’re not making sports more fair; we’re singling out a tiny, tiny number of trans students, most of whom are just trying to survive in the face of increased scrutiny and hostility and ostracization from adults like us,” Hunt said during Wednesday’s floor debate.
Nebraska Sen. Kathleen Kauth (R), who unsuccessfully sponsored a similar bill last year, introduced the “Stand with Women Act” in January at Pillen’s request. Lawmakers amended the measure earlier this month to remove language that would have barred transgender people from using restrooms matching their gender identity in schools and state buildings.
“It’s just common sense that girls shouldn’t have to compete against biological boys,” Pillen said in a post on social platform X late Wednesday after the bill passed. “This legislative win will lead to many more victories for Nebraska’s female athletes, as we ensure a level and fair playing field for all girls who compete.”
Nebraska will join 26 other states in prohibiting transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. Federal judges are currently blocking enforcement of laws passed in Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and West Virginia, and a narrow court ruling in New Hampshire allows only the two students challenging the law to continue competing on their schools’ girls’ teams.
In February, a federal judge allowed the two girls to expand their legal challenge to include the Trump administration after President Trump signed an executive order to ban trans athletes from school sports nationwide. At a signing ceremony, Trump said the order would also block transgender women from competing in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
In Alaska and Virginia, where legislation to restrict trans athletes’ participation has failed to advance through divided state legislatures, high school sports associations prohibit transgender students from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity.
In February, the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) said it would ban trans girls from competing in girls’ sports in line with Trump’s executive order. NSAA Assistant Director Jeff Strauss said at the time that the organization’s Gender Participation Committee has received eight applications from transgender students since 2018.
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which governs high school sports in the state, announced this week that it would allow more girls to compete in its track-and-field state championships as Trump threatens California’s funding over a transgender 16-year-old’s qualification for the state finals.
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice said it is investigating whether a near-decade-old California law allowing trans students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity violates Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination.
