Nebraska Voters Cement Fairness for Girls Sex-Separate Sports Measure

Nebraska Voters Cement Fairness for Girls Sex-Separate Sports Measure

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Nebraska Voters Cement Sex-Separate Sports into State Constitution

“Nebraskans are sick and tired of watching politicians in the Capitol turn things into a political football,” said Julie Slama, the former state senator who sponsored the Fairness for Girls campaign. Voters appeared to agree Tuesday, approving Initiative Measure 442 by a wide margin to cement sex-separate school sports requirements into the Nebraska Constitution, the Nebraska Examiner reported.

318,439 Yes Votes With 69 Percent Counted

As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, with 69% of the vote counted, the measure had 318,439 yes votes to 160,626 no votes.

Permanentizing the 2025 State Law

The proposal would make permanent part of a 2025 state law requiring public K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and any private schools or colleges in the state playing against those schools to designate sports and teams as male, female or coed.

Nebraska voters vote on ballot initiative 442 titled “Fairness for Girls”

Male students could not play on female-only teams under the requirement. The ballot measure would not define “sex” in the constitution, leaving that definition to state law, which describes sex as whether someone “naturally has, had, will or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and utilizes” either eggs (female) or sperm (male) for fertilization.

Supreme Court Upholds Measure After Court Challenges

The measure faced multiple court challenges from critics arguing the ballot language was too broad. The battle led to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which upheld the measure’s validity in an October ruling.

Democratic Voters Back Measure Alongside Republicans

Slama started the night feeling optimistic after hearing consistent support for the initiative while traveling across the state. She described the proposal as a “commonsense” issue that bypassed partisan lines.

For an election that favored Democrats nationwide, the initiative’s wide margin indicated that Democratic voters supported the measure alongside Republicans, Slama said.

“Opportunities for our daughters and granddaughters should never be a political football,” Slama said.

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