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'Stand with Women' Act Signed into Nebraska Law; Multiple Huskers Attend as Advocates

A new law on sport participation includes the University of Nebraska and other Cornhusker State colleges and universities.

Kaleb Henry

Husker athletes Rebekah Allick and Jordy Bahl (left) attend the signing of the "Stand with Women" Act at the Nebraska State Capitol.
Husker athletes Rebekah Allick and Jordy Bahl (left) attend the signing of the "Stand with Women" Act at the Nebraska State Capitol. / Office of Governor Jim Pillen
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A new law on sport participation has been signed in Nebraska.

Governor Jim Pillen signed the "Stand with Women" Act into law this week. The new law requires students in kindergarten through college to play on athletic teams that align with their sex at birth.

Multiple Husker athletes have been advocates for the act to pass. Both NU softball pitcher Jordy Bahl and volleyball middle blocker Rebekah Allick were in attendance for the signing at the Capitol.

"It's incredible to be the 28th state that is getting this done," Bahl said.

"This is common sense," Allick said. "We're trying to defend reality, which is such a crazy fight that we have to fight."

The law does not include language about bathroom or locker room use. The bill had that language stripped by an amendment before passing for the final time and being sent to the governor for signing.

While the issue of transgender athletes in competition has not been put into practice for Nebraska, the collegiate landscape has seen some schools take matters into their own hands when facing a transgender opponent.

This past volleyball season, multiple teams across the Mountain West Conference refused to play San Jose State due to their inclusion of a transgender athlete. Boise State refused to play three times, including in the conference tournament and electing to instead have their season end early.

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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