A group called Fairness for Girls has launched a ballot initiative campaign seeking to amend the Nebraska Constitution to restrict participation in school sports based on a student’s sex assigned at birth.
Organizers announced the effort Monday and said the proposal has been submitted to Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen for review of its ballot language.
According to the proposed amendment language, schools would be required to designate athletic teams as male, female or coed based on biological sex. Teams designated for females would not be open to male students.
The proposal would effectively bar transgender girls from participating on girls’ teams.
The conservative ballot committee includes University of Nebraska Regent Rob Schafer, former state Sen. Julie Slama and Elizabeth Nunnally, engagement coordinator for the Christian faith-based lobbying group Nebraska Family Alliance.
In 2025, lawmakers passed LB89 on a party-line vote, which restricted transgender participation in K-12 and college sports and defined “sex” in state law by reproductive anatomy. Nebraska’s string of transgender-focused legislation has been primarily pushed by Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha.
The Fairness for Girls initiative is similar in practice to LB89. But if approved by voters on the November 2026 ballot, the policy would be written into the Nebraska Constitution, meaning it could only be undone through another vote of the people, or if a court ruling found it unconstitutional. The Legislature could not repeal the initiative on its own.
In a joint statement, organizers said the measure is intended to “preserve opportunities for young girls” and maintain fairness in athletics.
The proposal would apply to interscholastic, collegiate and intramural sports at public and private schools in Nebraska that compete against public institutions.
Nebraska’s ballot initiative process requires sponsors of a constitutional amendment to collect signatures from 10% of registered voters. Those signatures also must represent 5% of registered voters in at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.
The precise proposed constitutional amendment language is available below:
- Schools must expressly designate each athletic team or sport as one of the following based on biological sex: Males, men or boys; females, women, or girls; or coed or mixed.
- Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall not be open to students of the male sex.
- For purposes of this section, “schools” shall mean interscholastic, intercollegiate, and intramural athletic teams or sports that are sponsored by a common school of this state, a public postsecondary educational institution of this state, or any school or institution of learning in this state not owned or exclusively controlled by the state or a political subdivision thereof whose athletic teams or sports compete against a common school or public postsecondary educational institution of this state, or any school or institution of learning in this state not owned or exclusively controlled by the state or a political subdivision thereof whose athletic teams or sports compete against a common school or public postsecondary education institution of this state.
- This section shall be self-executing, but legislation may be enacted to facilitate its operation. If any part or parts of this section are found to conflict with federal law or the Constitution of the United States, this section shall be implemented to the maximum extent permitted by federal law and the Constitution of the United States. Any provision held invalid shall be severable from the remaining portions of this section.