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Nebraska lawmakers jumped back into the culture war on Friday with the introduction of a bill that would ban transgender individuals from certain bathrooms and locker rooms in the state.

Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth, whose bill banning some medical treatments for transgender youths sparked a session-long war in the Legislature two years ago, brought legislation requiring trans individuals to use restrooms and locker rooms matching the gender assigned to them at birth.

"It astounds me that I have to introduce this bill," Kauth said at a news conference Friday morning in the Governor's Hearing Room in the Capitol, flanked by more than 20 of her colleagues as well as two high-profile Husker athletes.

Several state senators wore black T-shirts with white lettering that read "I Stand With Women" — echoing the title of Kauth's legislation (LB89) she said was about common sense.

But just outside the hearing room, which was packed with Kauth's supporters, opponents of the measure lined the hallways, many with signs expressing support for transgender Nebraskans and condemning those who backed the bill.

Shortly after the news conference started, a chant broke out in a waiting area outside of the hearing room but was quickly broken up by Nebraska state troopers, who provide Capitol security.

Three masked protesters were later escorted from the Capitol hallway near the governor's office as they chanted: "Say it loud! Say it clear! Trans people are welcome here."

The scene evoked many of the tense days of debate surrounding Kauth's previous foray into the culture wars in 2023, but both she and Gov. Jim Pillen dismissed the protesters.

"Anybody who disrupts a press conference like that, we have plenty of security to have them taken out immediately," Pillen said.

What act would do

The "Stand With Women Act" would require K-12 schools as well as postsecondary institutions to designate interscholastic and intramural teams as either for males or females. Schools also could designate activities as co-ed for all students to participate.

The bill would prohibit boys from participating on any team designated for girls. It would also bar girls from participating in boys' sports "unless there is no female team offered or available."

Schools also would be required to adopt policies in line with the bill, and any school that "intentionally refuses" to comply with the law could face sanctions from the Nebraska Department of Education, up to losing their accreditation.

While Kauth said the bill would apply to Nebraska's state colleges and universities, a 1977 Nebraska Supreme Court case found that the University of Nebraska and not the Legislature dictated policies. It's unclear if NU will seek a carve-out in the bill.

State agencies — Kauth said the bill would apply to everything from the Department of Correctional Services to the Department of Economic Development — also would be required to adopt rules designating which restrooms employees or those in the state's custody could use.

"If we have designated something as, say, a women business-owner grant, we shouldn't have men be able to get that money," Kauth said.

The bill includes exemptions for parents or caregivers who bring minor children or individuals with disabilities into bathrooms of the opposite sex, and has a carve-out for those "with a diagnosis of a disorder or difference in sex development."

Pillen, who previously issued an executive order that directed state agencies to do many of the things called for in the bill, cast LB89 as "standing up for the values that make this state one of the greatest places in the history of civilization to live."

"It's really simple folks, girls and women should not have to share locker rooms with boys and men," the governor said.

Husker athletes supportive

Husker softball player Jordyn Bahl, who has been featured at several high-profile conservative political events, praised Pillen and Kauth for leading on the issue.

"A large majority of Americans know how morally screwed up this whole issue is, but they sit back because of the fear of labels, the fear of losing jobs, loss of security, loss of opportunity," Bahl said.

Husker volleyball player Rebekah Allick, who wore a T-shirt from the XX-XY apparel company started by Jennifer Sey, a Colorado woman and former gymnast who also spoke Friday in support of the measure, said her Catholic faith was a driving force behind why she supported Kauth's bill.

"Honestly, my heart mostly breaks for the trans community because I believe a lot of them resorted to that community because people weren't listening when they were crying," Allick said. "People weren't listening when they were asking for help and were confused."

Allick, who condemned protesters for yelling at Pillen and other backers of the bill, also said state lawmakers should do more to embrace Christian teachings as they consider legislation this year.

"The idea of separation of church and Legislature is one of the biggest things that, personally, really pisses me off," she said. "It's missing the whole point. Without our church, without our God, who are we?"

Friday's news conference also featured Hannah Holtmeier, a former student at the University of Wyoming who, with five others, sued the national Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority over its transgender-inclusive policy, which they said was discriminatory.

Holtmeier, who later transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said she was alarmed when the Wyoming sorority accepted a transgender student, which she said robbed other women of opportunities.

"I joined a sorority with the hope of finding a group of close, like-minded women and bettering myself throughout my college years," Holtmeier said. "But that all quickly diminished when a man entered."

Questions from opponents

While backers of the bill framed LB89 as supporting women and girls, opponents of the measure said that was being used to distract from the measure's intent.

Abbi Swatsworth, executive director of OutNebraska, said Kauth's bill marked an "escalation" against LGBT Nebraskans that have become the focus of lawmakers in recent years.

"By touching everything government controls, it targets transgender Nebraskans and in truth a wide swath of LGBT Nebraskans, women and girls, cisgender and transgender," Swatsworth said.

The ACLU of Nebraska said Kauth's bill would erode freedoms in the state, particularly for transgender individuals.

"It is vital that people look past the branding to understand LB89's actual impact of functionally erasing trans people under state law and mandating government discrimination against them," said Scout Richters, the ACLU of Nebraska's policy director. "This bill is more than a continuation of the recent legislative attacks on our LGBTQ+ friends, family members and neighbors — it is a sharp escalation."

Erin Feichtinger, policy director of the Women's Fund of Omaha, said it was unclear how the bill would help women in Nebraska as its supporters claimed.

"There are a lot of great policies that have been introduced over the years that actually help women," Feichtinger said. "Things like preventing domestic violence, reducing sexual assault, increasing access to affordable child care, closing the gender wage gap.

"Any of those would make women's lives substantially better and don't use women to further marginalize an already-marginalized group," she added.

Kauth, who fell two votes short of defeating a filibuster last year on the "Sports and Spaces Act," which pursued an identical goal, said she did not yet have 33 votes in the Legislature to be able to advance LB89.

Two holdouts in last year's debate — Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, who has been a vocal skeptic of the need for a bill, and Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston — were not at Friday's news conference.

"I've been talking to people about it, rewriting the bill, and working on it," she said. "I think we will get there."

The "Stand With Women Act" was one of 53 bills and constitutional amendments introduced Friday, which was Day 3 of the 90-day session.