Nebraska Voters to Decide Fairness for Girls Sports Measure

LB 442 would amend the state constitution to designate school athletic teams by biological sex, and it appears on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

Updated on Nov. 1, 2026 in Secondary Education

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a simplified capitol tower silhouette above a prairie horizon, with a ballot-box shape in the foreground. — Nebraska voters will decide LB 442 on the November 3, 2026 ballot, after the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the measure that would set school athletic teams by biological sex. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Should Nebraska amend its constitution to require school sports teams be designated by biological sex?

Nebraska voters will decide LB 442, the Fairness for Girls initiative, on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot. The Nebraska Supreme Court unanimously upheld the validity of the measure in mid-October.

Why it matters

The initiative would place athletic team designations based on biological sex into the state constitution, seeking to cement the Stand with Women act enacted by the Nebraska Legislature in 2025. Supporters say it protects girls' athletic opportunities from changes in future legislative sessions.

The initiative would amend the state constitution to require public schools, universities and participating private schools to designate athletic teams or sports based on biological sex. Voting yes approves the designation; voting no stops it from becoming law, but the method for verifying sex remains unspecified.

The players

Nebraska Supreme Court

The state's highest court unanimously upheld the validity of the 2026 ballot measure in mid-October, clearing the way for voters to decide it.

Nebraska State Legislature

The body that enacted the Stand with Women act and LB 89 in 2025, the laws the initiative seeks to make constitutional.

The details

Voters expressed their views on LB 442 at public hearings held October 22 in all three districts of the state. The initiative is placed on the ballot as a constitutional amendment, building on LB 89, which the 2025 Legislature passed to exclude transgender athletes from sports in Nebraska.

2025: Legislature enacts the Stand with Women act and LB 89.
2017 to 2023: Seven trans students apply to the policy; five use it to play.
October 22: Public hearings are held in all three districts.
November 3, 2026: LB 442 appears on the general election ballot.

Season Trajectory

The measure extends LB 89, a 2025 statute, into the state constitution, so it would be harder for future legislatures to change. It places Nebraska among states moving to codify sex-based athletic categories in law.

If approved, the amendment would require Nebraska public schools, universities and participating private schools to set athletic teams by biological sex. Student athletes and families would face the new rules in school sports starting with the measure's implementation.

The takeaway

Nebraska voters will decide a permanent change to school sports rules on November 3, 2026, so families and student athletes should track the outcome and any implementation guidance that follows.