Nebraska has joined a burgeoning group of states nationwide to pass legislation prohibiting males who identify as transgender from competing in women’s sports. On Wednesday, the state’s unicameral legislature passed the Stand With Women Act (LB 89), which is expected to be signed into law by Governor Jim Pillen (R).

The bill, which passed Nebraska’s legislature in a 33-16 vote, calls for all interscholastic sports teams in the state “sponsored by a public school, a private school whose students or teams compete against a public school in an interscholastic sport, or a private school that is a member of an athletic association” to be “expressly designated” based on biological sex.

“This legislation achieves a key goal — protecting girls and women’s sports,” Pillen stated after the vote. “It’s just common sense that girls shouldn’t have to compete against biological boys. This legislative win will lead to many more victories for Nebraska’s female athletes, as we ensure a level and fair playing field for all girls who compete. I look forward to signing it into law.”

With the governor’s signature enacting LB 89, Nebraska will become the 29th state in the nation to have passed a law or regulation that ensures only biological females compete in girls’ school sports.

Family advocates like Elizabeth Nunnally of the Nebraska Family Alliance praised the bill’s passage. “Participation in sports provides girls in Nebraska with invaluable opportunities, friendships, and character development,” she remarked. “LB 89 ensures that those opportunities and experiences are not taken away by men. We are grateful that our state senators have chosen this common-sense approach to protect the safety of women and girls in Nebraska.”

Nebraska Family Alliance Executive Director Nate Grasz added, “Across the country, girls have lost scholarships, missed championship titles, and suffered serious injuries because they were forced to compete against men. This is unfair and dangerous, and we applaud our senators for stepping up to preserve fairness and opportunities for women and girls in Nebraska.”

Since 2008, SheWon.org has catalogued 2,242 female athletes losing out on 3,126 medals to males in 1,311 competitions in 46 sports. The website has tracked almost 900 first place finishes in women’s competitions that have been claimed by males who identify as transgender.

As the trend of males being allowed to compete against females has grown, the number of injuries sustained by women and girls while competing against males has also grown accordingly. Recent examples include a field hockey player and multiple basketball players in Massachusetts, a volleyball player in North Carolina, dozens of players in an Australian soccer league, and more.

Former NCAA Division I athlete Mary Szoch, who serves as director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, lauded the passage of Nebraska’s Stand With Women Act.

“Congratulations to Nebraska on becoming the 29th state to acknowledge biological reality and demonstrate common sense!” she told The Washington Stand. “Biological males should not be allowed to play girls’ sports. Doing so makes sports unfair and no longer fun. It removes the opportunity a girl has to learn about hard work, discipline, teamwork, and winning and losing with grace in a controlled environment that is as fair as possible. The other 31 states should follow Nebraska and keep girls’ sports for females only.”