Nebraska has become the latest state to require athletes to compete on sports teams that align with their sex instead of their stated gender identity.
Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed Legislature Bill 89 (LB 89) into law Wednesday alongside female athletes who’ve been harmed by policies allowing trans-identified males to compete in women’s sports. Pillen’s approval of the measure follows its passage in the state’s unicameral, non-partisan Legislature in a 33-16 vote last week.
Also known as the Stand With Women Act, the legislation requires all public schools, private schools and public and private post-secondary institutions that are part of an athletic association to designate sports teams as open to either males or females based on their sex. The measure states that sports teams designated for females shall not be open to male students and that sports teams designated for males shall not be open to female students.
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The law, which does not include any references to the terms “gender” or “gender identity,” cites the biological differences between males and females as the reason why prohibiting males from competing on women’s sports teams is necessary. “Males and females possess unique and immutable differences that manifest prior to birth and increase as they age and experience puberty,” the measure notes.
“Physical differences between males and females have long made separate and sex-specific sports teams important so that female athletes can have equal opportunities to compete in sports while reducing the risk of physical injury,” the legislation added. “Physical advantages for males relevant to sports include, on average, a larger body size with more skeletal muscle mass, a lower percentage of body fat, and a greater maximal delivery of anaerobic and aerobic energy.”
According to the bill, “Even at young ages, males typically score higher than females on cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and speed and agility. These differences become more pronounced during and after puberty as males produce higher levels of testosterone. On average, male athletes are bigger, faster, stronger, and more physically powerful than their female counterparts. This results in a significant sports performance gap between the sexes.”
“Studies have shown that the benefits that natural testosterone provides to male athletes are not significantly diminished through the use of testosterone suppression,” the measure declares. Referring to the practice embraced by trans-identified males seeking to compete on women’s sports teams, the bill asserts that “Testosterone suppression in males does not result in a level playing field between male and female athletes.”
“Having separate athletic teams based on the sex of the athlete reduces the chance of injury to female athletes, promotes equality between the sexes, provides opportunities for female athletes to compete against their female peers rather than against male athletes, and allows female athletes to compete on a fair playing field for scholarships and other athletic accomplishments.”
Conservative legal nonprofits reacted favorably to Nebraska becoming the latest state to ban trans-identified males from women’s sports.
In a statement reacting to Pillen’s signature of LB 89, Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Erica O’Connell said in a statement to CP, “Letting men intrude on women and girls’ sports teams is an invasion of privacy, a threat to their safety, and a denial of the real biological differences between the sexes.”
“Nebraska is right to ensure that female athletes of all ages have a fair and level playing field and protect the safety and dignity of women and girls,” she said. “By signing this legislation into law, Gov. Pillen is protecting Nebraskans for generations to come.”
Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver offered a similar analysis: “This common sense law protects women and girls by returning Nebraska’s interscholastic sports to the biological reality that men and women are different. So many female athletes have been competitively, physically, and emotionally harmed by policies allowing males into their sports and private spaces. This country has had enough of these hurtful policies and it is time for all states to pass laws protecting women and girls.”
Nebraska joins 28 other states in banning trans-identified males from women’s sports: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Concerns about fairness for female athletes, as outlined in LB 89, have been amplified by real-world examples of trans-identified male athletes dominating in women’s sports. In one such case, trans-identified swimmer Lia (Will) Thomas broke women’s swimming records on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swimming team after three years of competing on the men’s team.
In addition to action taken at the state level to prevent trans-identified males from competing in women’s sports, President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this year vowing to withhold federal funds from schools that allow boys who identify as girls to compete on women’s sports teams.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
