Initiative Measure 442

BALLOT LANGUAGE

Proposed by Initiative Petition

A vote “FOR” will amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide: (1) Schools must expressly designate each athletic team or sport as one of the following based on biological sex: (a) Males, men, or boys; (b) females, women, or girls; or (c) coed or mixed; and (2) Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex. The amendment would apply to all athletic teams or sports sponsored by public schools or postsecondary educational institutions, and private schools or educational institutions whose athletic teams or sports compete against public schools or institutions.

A vote “AGAINST” means the Nebraska Constitution will not be amended in this manner.

Shall the Nebraska Constitution be amended to provide: (1) Schools must expressly designate each athletic team or sport as one of the following based on biological sex: (a) Males, men, or boys; (b) females, women, or girls; or (c) coed or mixed; and (2) Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex? The amendment would apply to all athletic teams or sports sponsored by public schools or postsecondary educational institutions, and private schools or educational institutions whose athletic teams or sports compete against public schools or institutions. 

WHAT IT MEANS

For

A vote “For” this measure would amend the Nebraska Constitution to require schools to designate athletic teams or sports as male, female, or coed based on biological sex and specify that athletic teams or sports designated for females may not be open to males. 

Against

A vote “Against” this measure would keep current Nebraska statute which requires schools to designate athletic teams or sports as male, female, or coed based on biological sex and specifies that athletic teams or sports designated for females may not be open to males but would not include the requirement in the Nebraska Constitution.

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST

For

“Protect Fairness in Girls’ Sports: 

Biological males have significant physical advantages — higher muscle mass, greater bone density, and elevated testosterone levels. Allowing men to compete in girls’ sports destroys a level playing field and undermines fairness for our daughters. 

Protect Girls’ Opportunities: 

Over 900 medals have been awarded to biological males competing in girls’ sports. That means lost championships, lost scholarships, and lost opportunities for young women. Nebraska must stand up for our daughters and protect their future. 

Protect Girls’ Physical Safety: 

In contact sports like rugby, wrestling, and boxing — and even in basketball and volleyball — biological males pose real physical risks to female athletes. Protecting girls from preventable, potentially life-altering injuries is not controversial. It’s common sense.” - Fairness for Girls 

“Fairness and safety are essential to the future of girls’ sports. This election, Nebraska voters can protect equal opportunity in our Constitution and ensure female athletes can continue to compete for generations to come. 

Fairness for Girls is a ballot initiative effort to protect girls’ sports in the Nebraska Constitution. 

In 2024, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill protecting girls’ sports. But those safeguards are only statutory, not constitutional, which means they can be weakened, repealed, or overturned—something opponents are already promising to do. And we can’t play defense. 

Across the country, female athletes have lost scholarships, missed championship titles, and suffered serious injuries because they were forced to compete against biological men. No girl should lose her chance to compete or feel unsafe at school. Initiative 442 would provide lasting constitutional protections for women and girls in Nebraska. 

More than 211,000 Nebraskans signed the Fairness for Girls petition—the largest number of signatures ever submitted for a ballot measure in Nebraska history. Fairness, respect, and safety are common-sense values every Nebraskan can support. This election, protect girls’ sports by voting “for” Initiative 442."' - Nebraska Family Alliance

"Nebraskans will consider a constitutional amendment to protect girls sports in the 2026 midterm election, which will be held on November 3.

If approved, it would establish constitutional protections for sex-separate athletics, ensuring female athletes receive equal access to athletic opportunities. The measure would prohibit “transgender”-identified males from competing in girls sports.

While Nebraska has a law protecting girls sports, those safeguards are only statutory, meaning they can be weakened, repealed or overturned. The Fairness for Girls Amendment would ensure girls sports are protected by the Nebraska Constitution.

Citizens living in Nebraska can help ensure girls sports are protected for generations to come by voting “Yes” on the state’s Fairness for Girls Amendment on November 3." - Focus on the Family

“Nebraskans now have the opportunity to enshrine the commonsense protections that I signed into law into our constitution. This isn’t about politics. It’s about safety, preserving scholarship opportunities, and giving young female competitors a fair shot. It’s critical that we put a stop to the possibility of biological men competing against our girls. Please follow my lead, vote, and get this into our constitution.” - Jim Pillen, Nebraska Governor

Against

"Instead of focusing on fixing the cost of living issues Nebraskans are struggling with, billionaires and their politician cronies are playing in our faces, wasting time and money on a proposed constitutional amendment that wouldn’t actually change how school sports operate—a transgender sports ban was already passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 2025.

Widespread gender checks make everyone less safe. Do you really want school and government officials tasked with investigating what’s in kids’ pants? Do you really want to empower bad actors to unfairly cast doubt on young athletes that they deem “too masculine” or who otherwise don’t fit within traditional gender expectations?

Participating in sports is good for kids: It helps kids stay healthy, sharpens their cognitive skills, and improves their mental health. All kids deserve access to these benefits!

Transgender girls and young women vary in athletic ability, just like all other kids—there is no reliable evidence that allowing them to play on girls’ teams would affect fairness or safety.

If the people behind all these trans sports bans actually cared about women’s sports, they would focus on things like the disproportionate abuse and bullying coaches, fans, and commentators perpetrate against women athletes, unequal pay, and inequitable access to training and resources."  - Fairness for All

"Last year... the Nebraska State Legislature passed LB 89, commonly known as the “Stand With Women Act.” The bill requires student-athletes in public K–12 schools and colleges to compete on sports teams that match the sex listed on their original birth certificate, not their gender identity.

Transgender students in Nebraska are already navigating the effects of LB 89 being passed into law... This new initiative would permanently finalize that exclusion at the constitutional level, making it much harder for courts, future legislators, or the community to revisit it.

Beyond sports, constitutional amendments that define people by biological characteristics have implications that extend beyond the playing field. They establish a framework in state law for how gender is defined, which can also shape future legislation.

The “Fairness for Girls” initiative is not a grassroots effort to protect girls’ sports. It has received the majority of its funding, more than $3 million, from a dark money nonprofit. It is designed to permanently embed into Nebraska’s constitution a policy that was already passed as regular law, specifically making it harder to change or challenge that law.

Transgender students are not a threat to girls’ sports. They are kids who want to play.

OutNebraska knows that Nebraska is for all of us. That includes every young person who wants to be part of their school community.” - OutNebraska  

“Every single Nebraskan deserves freedom, dignity, and safety. This initiative attempts to strip important, personal decisions away from parents, schools, and medical professionals and hand them over to politicians in order to ban transgender students from participating in school sports and to conduct invasive gender checks. This kind of government overreach does not make families safer or stronger.

It puts minors at risk of invasive inspections and humiliating scrutiny. Instead of focusing on the actual issues impacting Nebraska families every day and helping kids thrive, the initiative is more concerned with inserting the government into family health care.” - Second House Collaborative

"Ballot measures that target trans people including youth are an attack on fundamental freedoms and an attempt to write discrimination into law. Voters deserve policies that protect people’s dignity, not political tactics that single out vulnerable communities. These efforts are part of a broader strategy to hijack the people’s tool for political gain at the expense of the trans community’s well-being and belonging. Targeting groups through the ballot is not governance — it’s cruelty disguised as policy." - Ballot Initiative Strategy Center  

ENDORSEMENTS

For

Pete Ricketts (Conservative)

Julie Slama (Conservative)

Jim Pillen (Conservative)

Liberty Counsel Action (Conservative)

Nebraska Family Alliance (Conservative)

Against

ACLU of Nebraska (Liberal)

Nebraska Appleseed (Liberal)

Women's Fund of Omaha (Liberal)

Second House Collaborative (Liberal)

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (Liberal)

FINANCIAL BACKING

The following information provides insight into the money being spent to pass or defeat the ballot measure.

For

NEBRASKA INITIATIVE MEASURE 442, SEX REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOOL AND COLLEGE SPORTS INITIATIVE (2026)

This question is on the ballot in Nebraska as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026. As of October 10, 2026, the committees formed to support Nebraska Initiative Measure 442, Sex Requirement for School and College Sports Initiative (2026) are: 

FAIRNESS FOR GIRLS

Selected contributions to: "Fairness for Girls" include:

  • Restore the Good Life Inc
  • Nebraska Family Alliance

Against

NEBRASKA INITIATIVE MEASURE 442, SEX REQUIREMENT FOR SCHOOL AND COLLEGE SPORTS INITIATIVE (2026)

This question is on the ballot in Nebraska as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026. As of October 10, 2026, the committees formed to oppose Nebraska Initiative Measure 442, Sex Requirement for School and College Sports Initiative (2026) are:

FAIRNESS FOR ALL

Selected contributions to: "Fairness for All" include:

  • Second House Collaborative
  • Nebraska Appleseed
  • ACLU Nebraska
  • OutNebraska

If you are not already receiving our updates, stay current with important election alerts, educational articles, and encouraging reminders.

I agree to receive text messages at the mobile number provided.