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Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed on June 4 the “Stand With Women Act,” which prohibits male athletes who say they are female from playing on women and girls’ sports teams.
“We cannot ignore that girls and women have the right to a level playing field when it comes to sports,” Pillen stated the day of the signing, according to a June 4 press release from his office. “Otherwise, we are denying them opportunities to compete and win, earn scholarships and develop their own athletic abilities.”
The bill, LB89, introduced by Sen. Kathleen Kauth in January, mandates that K-12 and college students can only be on sports teams that correspond to their biological sex, the release said.
Pro-woman advocates Payton McNabb and Riley Gaines and University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball player Rebekah Allick and softball player Jordy Bahl attended the signing. Allick and Bahl appeared in an ad in October 2024 urging Nebraska citizens to vote in the upcoming election against pro-abortion Initiative 439.
Allick commented in the release that she is “just really grateful to be surrounded by independent and individual thinkers. Again, this is not a political matter. This is common sense. We are trying to defend reality.”
Pillen noted that the Stand With Women Act codifies an executive order he enacted in August 2023 that established a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” which states that a person’s biological sex is determined at birth.
According to the release, Gaines had pushed for such legislation in 2023 and had met with Pillen at the time to discuss the issue.
“At the time only three states had codified such language,” Gaines said, noting that Pillen issued the executive order shortly after. “Two years later, and after countless hours spent advocating for the importance of defining ‘woman’ and protecting women’s sports and spaces, Sen. Kauth and her colleagues have achieved a remarkable victory for Nebraskans.”
Gaines said the signing of the Stand with Women Act has helped make the Women’s Bill of Rights “an even more powerful legislative package.”
She added, “I am so proud to have been a part of this multi-year fight for women’s rights and be here in Lincoln to watch Nebraska become the 28th state to protect women’s sports.”
