State by State · Initiative 442 passed
On November 3, 2026, Nebraska voters passed Initiative 442, a constitutional amendment protecting female-designated school and collegiate athletic teams, with about 67% of the vote in unofficial returns. It takes effect when the governor proclaims the result, within ten days of the official count, and it makes Nebraska’s 2025 Stand With Women Act much harder to undo.
The law in Nebraska
Law in force · Ballot measure passed Nov. 3, 2026 (results unofficial) · Covers K-12 and colleges
Since 2025, Nebraska law has kept girls' and women's sports for females, from kindergarten through college. On November 3, 2026, voters approved about two-to-one adding that protection to the state constitution, including private schools that compete against public ones (results unofficial until certified). It takes effect when the governor proclaims the result after the official canvass.
Past attempts
Before 2025, girls’-sports bills failed to overcome filibusters in the officially nonpartisan unicameral legislature (for example LB 575 in 2023). LB 89 itself lost its bathroom and locker-room sections to win cloture (source).
The law in detail, with sources
The law
LB 89, the “Stand With Women Act,” introduced by Sen. Kathleen Kauth at the governor’s request. It passed after a successful cloture motion, 33-16 on final reading on May 28, 2025, and Gov. Jim Pillen signed it June 4, 2025 (source; source). It took effect September 3, 2025 (source). Initiative 442, “Fairness for Girls,” is a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to Article VII. Voters approved it on November 3, 2026, by about 67-68% in unofficial results (source; source; source). The result is unofficial until certified. An approved initiative takes effect when the governor proclaims it, which must happen within ten days of the official canvass (Neb. Const. art. III, § 4).
Who it covers
LB 89 covers K-12 and postsecondary sports (source). Initiative 442 requires public schools, colleges and universities, and private schools and colleges that compete against them, to designate teams as male, female or coed. It bars male students from female teams (source).
Notes
LB 89 defines sex by reproductive biology. Its bathroom and locker-room provisions were cut before passage (source; source). The governor says LB 89 codifies his August 2023 executive order (a “Women’s Bill of Rights”) (source). Initiative 442 does not cover bathrooms or define “sex,” and it makes the 2025 law much harder to repeal (source; source). October 16, 2026: the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that the ballot measure was valid, rejecting a challenge to its object statement (Ullman v. Schafer) (source).
Dr. Greg Brown, University of Nebraska at Kearney
Dr. Greg Brown is a professor of kinesiology and sport sciences at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. His studies of U.S. youth track and field results, with Brandon Shaw and Ina Shaw, found that boys run faster, jump farther and throw farther than girls years before puberty. He spoke at the 2023 ICONS Summit, and his research is part of the science ICONS shares.
ICONS supported Nebraska’s law protecting female athletes.
What ICONS has done in Nebraska
- September 29, 2024 · Listen: Dr. Greg Brown on boys’ and girls’ athletic performance before puberty, on the Our Legacy podcast
- July 21, 2023 · Dr. Greg Brown of the University of Nebraska at Kearney spoke at the 2023 ICONS Summit in Denver
Athletes in ICONS-backed lawsuits
- Macey Boggs, volleyball, University of Wyoming, from Nebraska · Slusser v. Mountain West