Nebraska has become the latest state to enact legislation requiring athletes to compete on sports teams that align with their biological sex rather than their stated gender identity.
Governor Jim Pillen signed Legislature Bill 89 (LB 89) into law Wednesday, following its passage in the state’s Legislature by a 33-16 vote last week. The law is also known as the Stand With Women Act and mandates that all public and private schools, as well as post-secondary institutions involved in athletic associations, designate sports teams as either for males or females based solely on biological sex.
The legislation 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.”
The law, which does not reference “gender” or “gender identity,” cites biological differences between males and females as the reason for prohibiting males from competing on women’s teams.
It notes, “Males and females possess unique and immutable differences that manifest prior to birth and increase as they age and experience puberty,” and emphasizes that “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 states that, “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.”
The legislation adds, “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.”
Currently, Nebraska joins 28 other states—including 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—that have enacted similar bans on trans-identified males competing in women’s sports.
