Nebraska bishops call for reversal of state policy allowing transgender participation in school sports

January 20, 2016

The Catholic bishops of Nebraska have urged school administrators and parents to "make every effort to reverse" a decision by the state's school board, which would require a "pathway" to allow transgender students to participate in interscholastic sports.

In announcing the new policy, the Nebraska School Activities Association ignored a vote by four of the state's six school districts in favor of the existing policy, which requires that memebership in high-school athletic teams must be based on the student's natural sex. The bishops said that they were "dismayed by the arbitrary, non-collaborative decision" of the school board. "The board's decision circumvents the will of the voting members expressed in the democratic process that was recently completed," they noted.

The bishops' statement, issued through the Nebraska Catholic Conference, was signed by Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha and Bishops James Conley of Lincoln and Joseph Hanefeldt of Grand Island. 

 

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Further information:

• US Catholic bishops urge parents to fight school’s transgender policy (CNS)