Nebraska hearing draws hours of testimony over LB 89, ‘Stand With Women Act’

A public hearing in Lincoln stretched for hours as the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee took testimony on LB 89, the so-called Stand With Women Act, a proposal that would define a person’s sex in law by reproductive system and require restrooms and locker rooms in schools and many state settings to be designated by that standard.

The bill’s introducer, Senator Kathleen Kauth, told the committee the measure “aims to protect the integrity of athletic competitions and ensure the safety and privacy of women and girls in schools and state agencies. This is not a political issue.” She urged the panel to advance the measure with amendments supporters say will clarify implementation.

Supporters who testified included athletes and medical and sports-science witnesses who argued biological differences matter in competitive athletics. “There are important biological differences between males, meaning boys and men, and females, meaning girls and women,” said Dr. Greg Brown, an exercise physiologist who testified for the bill. He told the committee such differences “give males inherent biologically based athletic advantages when compared to similarly aged, trained, and talented females at all ages and all levels of sports.” Governor Jim Pillen…