LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed into law Wednesday a measure banning transgender students from girls' athletic events, making the state the latest to keep transgender athletes from competing on women's and girls' teams.
Pillen signed the law flanked by dozens of lawmakers, female athletes and other advocates — including former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines, who has made a name for herself as an advocate of banning transgender athletes from women's sports.
The measure passed last week by the Nebraska Legislature broke a filibuster by a single vote cast along party lines. It was pared down from its initial form, which also sought to bar transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender identity.
Sponsors agreed to drop the bathroom and locker room ban when one Republican — state Sen. Merv Riepe of Omaha — declared he would vote against it otherwise.
The measure was introduced in 2023 by then-freshman Sen. Kathleen Kauth but failed to advance as lawmakers angrily argued over Kauth's other bill that sought to bar gender transition procedures for transgender people under age 19. An amended version that banned gender transition surgery — but not all gender care — for minors later passed and was enacted that year.
On Wednesday, Kauth promised to revive her bathroom and locker room ban next year, reiterating her rejection that people can determine their own gender.
"Men are men and women are women," she said.
She urged voters in Riepe's district to pressure him to support it.
Republicans behind the ban say it protects women and girls and their ability to compete fairly as athletes. Opponents say that with so few transgender students seeking to participate in sports, the measure is a solution in search of a problem.
Fewer than 10 transgender students have applied to participate in middle school and high school sports in the state since 2018, the Nebraska School Activities Association said Wednesday.
At least 24 other states have adopted similar bans. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order this year intended to dictate the sports competitions transgender athletes can enter and has battled in court with Maine over that state's allowing transgender athletes to compete with girls and women.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska denounced the measure.
ACLU Nebraska Executive Director Mindy Rush Chipman said the ban "slams the door shut" for some transgender students to fully participate in their school communities.
"This ban will only create problems, not solve any," she said, adding that "the constant targeting of LGBTQ+ Nebraskans must stop."
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