LINCOLN, Neb (KMTV) — On Wednesday the State of Nebraska came together to celebrate Volleyball Day and women’s sports in Nebraska.
With all the attention on the Huskers, many missed a new order handed down by Governor Jim Pillen just a few hours before the first serve that he calls the "Women’s Bill of Rights."
But not everyone thinks the new order is in Nebraska’s best interests.
“We were outraged initially. It's not a women’s bill of rights, it's anti-trans legislation masking as an attempt at gender equity,” said Grant Friedman with the ACLU of Nebraska.
Nebraska isn’t the first state to establish a women’s bill of rights.
Texas in 2022 and Oklahoma earlier this month have both established their own women’s bill of rights and the language in their laws is nearly identical to Nebraska’s so where did it come from?
It wasn’t Texas or Oklahoma, instead the "Women's Bill of Rights" is a piece of model legislation that comes from a conservative political advocacy group called the Independent Women’s Forum.
This group was founded in the 1990s after the controversial Supreme Court appointment of Clarence Thomas as a conservative alternative to feminist tenets.
It is backed by notable conservative donors like the Koch brothers and the family of former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and one of its spokeswomen, Riley Gaines.
Gaines was in Nebraska last weekendcampaigning against the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
“We have seen lots of different organizations coming forward for what they call model legislation. They would try to get senators and representatives in each state to try and pass a national agenda opposed to the more recent advancements we have seen for the civil rights of all people,” said Friedman.
This political push from outside of Nebraska could potentially end up hurting the state’s pocketbook.
On Wednesday, Sen. Megan Hunt tweeted that she was concerned that the executive order could jeopardize federal funding as it could potentially violate Title IX.
But advocates say it still remains to be seen if that would happen.
“We don’t yet know what the repercussions for what exactly enforcement and the impact of this executive order and what would be the negative repercussions in terms of federal funding,” said Friedman.
3 News Now reached out to the Governor's office for comment on this story. They would not answer our questions about whether the IWF influenced this recent executive order but they did comment they do not expect it to impact federal funding.
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