Nebraska governor signs order narrowly defining sex as that assigned at birth

Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday signed an government order strictly defining an individual’s sex.

The order particularly does now not use the time period “transgender,” even supposing it sounds as if directed at restricting transgender get entry to to positive public areas. It orders state businesses to outline “female” and “male” as an individual’s sex assigned at birth.

“It is common sense that men do not belong in women’s only spaces,” Pillen mentioned in a commentary. “As Governor, it is my duty to protect our kids and women’s athletics, which means providing single-sex spaces for women’s sports, bathrooms, and changing rooms.”

Pillen’s order got here not up to a month after Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a virtually similar order.

The Nebraska and Oklahoma orders each come with definitions for the phrases “man,” “boy,” “woman,” “girl,” “father” and “mother.” They in particular outline a feminine as an individual “whose biological reproductive system is designed to produce ova” and a male as an individual whose “biological reproductive system is designed to fertilize the ova of a female.”

Both state orders direct schools and other state agencies to use those definitions when collecting vital statistics, such as data on crime and discrimination.

Pillen’s order took effect immediately and will expire if Nebraska lawmakers pass a law on trans athletes.

A bill to restrict transgender student participation in high school sports and limit access to bathrooms and locker rooms was introduced by Nebraska state Sen. Kathleen Kauth this past legislative session but did not advance out of committee. She has promised to try again next session.

Kauth also introduced the highly controversial bill banning gender-affirming surgery for anyone under 19 and restricting the use of hormone treatments and puberty blockers in minors.

The bill passed after supporters broke up a months-long filibuster by combining the measure with a 12-week abortion ban.

___

Associated Press author Margery A. Beck contributed to this record from Omaha, Nebraska.