Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Transgender student-athletes in Nebraska K-12 schools would have a narrow path to participation in a new legislative proposal unveiled Wednesday seeking to codify existing guidelines.
Legislative Bill 605, from State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, would require all of Nebraska’s 245 public school districts to adopt policies regarding the eligibility of transgender students to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports.
Time is being taken up, Raybould said, focusing on an effort from State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha to define “male” and “female” in state law and restrict sports teams and bathrooms to a student’s sex at birth.
Kauth’s LB 89, the Stand With Women Act, would also apply to collegiate athletics and other areas of state government, such as prisons, economic development and health care.
Raybould said some senators are concerned that Kauth’s effort revolves around a very small number of students who have applied to and been approved by the nonprofit Nebraska School Activities Association to participate in school sports that match their gender identity.
“We’re talking less than 10 [students] when there are perfectly detailed guidelines,” Raybould told reporters.
A patchwork approach
LB 605, from Raybould, seeks to mirror the NSAA’s Gender Participation Policy adopted in 2016. It offers a narrow path for participation in NSAA-sponsored athletics based on gender.
That’s a nonstarter for Kauth, who has regularly criticized the NSAA policy for letting school districts choose their own policies. That includes some districts — at least Kearney Public Schools and Norfolk Public Schools — that have chosen to restrict athletic teams to sex at birth.
Kauth said a patchwork of participation policies only “solidifies the problem.”
“I’m shocked that Senator Raybould, who has done so much with women’s groups, would choose to allow men [to] pretend to be women and take away opportunities [and] impact their safety and their privacy,” Kauth said.
The NSAA-mirrored steps in LB 605 would require school boards to collect documentation of whether a student is transgender, relying upon medical records and documentation from friends, family or teachers “affirming the actions, attitudes, dress and manner of the student that demonstrates the student’s consistent gender identification and expression.”
Raybould’s bill states that nothing in her proposed law or required school policies “shall be construed to encourage any student to undergo hormone therapy, sex reassignment surgery or other medical treatment resulting in a change to the student’s gender.”
NSAA guidelines
Schools participating with the NSAA could continue to use the existing participation policy, which requires the activities association to convene a “Gender Identity Eligibility Committee” to review each student’s eligibility, which must unanimously approve the application.
The eligibility committee group includes a physician with experience in transgender health care; a psychiatrist, psychologist or licensed mental health professional; a school administrator from a non-appealing school and an NSAA staff member.
The eligibility committee must unanimously approve a student’s application to approve participation, which, as Raybould said, has happened fewer than 10 times since 2017.
Female transgender students are subject to more steps than transgender male students under the NSAA policy, including medical examination and physiological testing to prove they do not possess “physical or physiological advantages over genetic females of the same age group.”
Transgender girls must also have at least one year of hormone treatment related to gender transition or have gone through gender reassignment surgery.
Kauth’s 2023 bill, the Let Them Grow Act, banned gender reassignment surgery for minors in Nebraska and set an extensive state process for obtaining hormones as part of gender care after months of gender-identity-focused therapy.
LB 605 doesn’t specify what guidelines local school districts would need to abide by in allowing trans youths to participate in school sports, which could lead to de facto bans.
Raybould said her concern is many senators have been fed information, particularly in the last presidential election cycle, that “distorts the truth of the matter.” She wants parents and transgender youths to have a voice.
“We certainly hope the schools that haven’t adopted it [the NSAA guidelines] will review that policy and give it more thoughtful consideration,” Raybould said.
‘I want to wait and see’
Lawmakers aren’t strangers to the NSAA approach, partly thanks to State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston who passed out the NSAA policy ahead of debate in 2024 on a different Kauth bill to restrict K-12 sports and bathrooms to sex at birth, which fell short by two votes.
Riepe and State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, both Republicans, refused to vote for or against the bill — LB 575, the Sports and Spaces Act.
Both Raybould and Riepe said the NSAA policy offers clear protocols and guidelines, backed by evidence from the NSAA in 2016 that is well thought out.
However, Riepe said he is waiting for guidance from the federal government and President Donald Trump, who is seeking to have Congress pass similar legislation.
“Last I knew, the feds, when they call the shots, it’s game over,” Riepe said. “I want to wait and see.”
Riepe said he is concerned about possible physiological advantages of trans students and does want to “protect” women’s sports, but he doesn’t feel legislation needs to go much further, such as to other areas of government as in Kauth’s Stand With Women Act.
He added that local control equates to local accountability and if local communities feel strongly, they can vote, as the districts in Kearney and Norfolk did.
Still, Riepe said he doesn’t want to drive transgender youths “into a total isolation.”
“Doesn’t mean I want them to play the sport,” Riepe said, “but doesn’t mean you can’t go to the school dance.”
NSAA Gender Participation Policy
The Nebraska School Activities Association oversees athletics and general activities for many of Nebraska’s public and private K-12 schools. The association implemented a Gender Participation Policy in January 2016, avoiding a “sex at birth” rule that year supported by former Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Transgender students wishing to utilize the outlined procedures must follow these steps:
- Provide written notice to their home school that will determine whether the student meets the activity eligibility standards.
- Apply for participation with the NSAA and complete a Transgender Student Application.
- Provide affirming information of the student’s gender identity and expression, such as credible documentation from parents, friends or teachers “affirming the actions, attitudes, dress and manner” of the student’s identity.
- Submit written verification from an appropriate health care professional affirming the student’s identity.
A four-member Gender Identity Eligibility Committee through the NSAA must reviews the student’s application. For participation to be approved, the committee must unanimously agree.
Transgender female students must also take one year of hormones or go through gender reassignment surgery, which was banned for minors after Oct. 1, 2023.
Trans girls, in either case, must also demonstrate through a medical examination and physiological testing they do “not possess physical … or physiological advantages over genetic females of the same age group.”
This includes bone structure, muscle mass and testosterone hormonal levels.