Nebraska voters approve ban on transgender athletes in girls sports

A ballot measure requiring schools to designate “biological sexes” to sports teams, is projected to pass, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Voters approved the constitutional amendment, known as Initiative Measure 442, which would require public schools, both K-12 and colleges and universities — in addition to any private schools that compete against them — to designate sports teams as either male, female or co-ed/mixed. The measure is projected to pass with nearly 68 percent support, with over 95 percent of the vote tallied by DDHQ.

The initiative would have also blocked transgender girls and women from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

Nebraska passed a law in 2025 requiring public education institutions in the state to designate these teams by sex assigned at birth. Under the statute, women cannot play on sports teams designated for men “unless there is no female team offered or available for such sport for such female student.”

The state’s law also requires students to prove verification of their sex by a physician.

The difference with the ballot measure is that it would largely enshrine those requirements into the state Constitution.

Republicans have heavily leaned into the question of whether transgender people — particularly transgender women or girls — should be allowed to use private facilities or play on sports teams that align with their gender identity. The issue has also divided some Democrats.

Data from the think tank Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law estimated in 2025 that there are around 300,000 young individuals — ages 13 to 17 — who identify as transgender in the country in total. A separate dataset also shows roughly 400,000 people aged 18 to 24 years also identify as transgender in the U.S.