'It's Common Sense': Lawmakers React to University Backing Away From Gender Identity
by Matt Johnson
Nebraska lawmakers applauded the University of Nebraska after the system’s president, Jeffrey Gold, amended Executive Memorandum No. 40. The memo directed the university to recognize and accommodate individuals’ “gender identity,” and it urged campus units to develop procedures emphasizing gender identity over biological sex.
Gold’s revision removed all references to gender identity recognition and accommodation while retaining the requirement to use an individual’s chosen name wherever possible.
News of this change broke earlier this week, prompting support from Republican lawmakers and outrage from some LGBTQ+ advocates.
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts said in a statement, “I support the new University of Nebraska policy that rolls back this objectionable mandate. Nebraskans expect common sense from our public institutions. Our universities should be focused on education, accountability, and opportunity for students so they are ready to enter the workforce.”
Ricketts was a co-sponsor of the “Defining Male and Female Act of 2025,” which sought to establish clear biological definitions of male and female in federal law.
Rep. Don Bacon also weighed in on Tuesday.
“Gender identity politics went to extremes during the previous four years, and it was time to find a better balance,” Bacon said. “Protecting women’s sports, women’s prisons, women’s shelters, and women’s locker rooms is what the vast majority of Americans want. It’s common sense.”
(Picture credit Matt Johnson)
Bacon voted in favor of the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025,” which passed the House in January 2025 and would enforce restrictions on sports based on biological sex.
Rep. Mike Flood responded to the decision during a press conference on Tuesday when asked for his reaction by The Plains Sentinel.
“I support the university’s decision to do that. I’ve said this before: biological sex is an immutable characteristic. I think it’s a common-sense step that the president of the university took, and I think we are seeing the country back away from some of this identity politics stuff that was so divisive under the Biden administration.”
In 2023, Gov. Jim Pillen met with women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines and signed an Executive Order establishing a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” defining “male” and “female” based on biological sex and aimed to protect single-sex spaces, including women’s sports, bathrooms, and changing rooms. Pillen later signed the “Stand With Women Act” (LB89), which codified and expanded the executive order’s principles.
(Picture credit Matt Johnson)
On Monday, Pillen’s communications director Laura Strimple said in a statement, “Governor Pillen has been a strong advocate for using common-sense definitions and approaches to gender identity. This policy change will help ensure a level playing field in NU athletics and provide assurance to female students that they are afforded the opportunities and protections they rightly deserve.”
In his 2026 State of the State Address, Pillen spoke out against diversity, equity, and inclusion “discrimination” as well as “pronoun culture” at the University of Nebraska.
“How destructive would it be if our great University of Nebraska followed the same path that so-called ‘elite’ coastal schools have, embracing pronoun culture, DEI discrimination, antisemitism, and radical critical race theory invasion into curriculum,” he said. “To the misguided students and families who actually want that for their money, you can go elsewhere.”
Following Gold’s modification of Memorandum No. 40, the University of Nebraska reportedly disabled the option for members to display their pronouns on university platforms, and “Pronouns 101” — a class that had been offered by the University’s Gender and Sexuality Center — is being abandoned.
Pillen said in his State of the State that he plans to codify changes into law. “I have introduced language in the budget that will definitively end DEI and CRT from Nebraska’s higher ed system, and I look forward to signing it into law,” he said.
Not everyone was happy with the policy change. Two LGBTQ+ advocates told the Lincoln Journal Star they were upset with Gold’s decision. “These are not legal decisions,” said A.T. Miller, the interim executive director for OutNebraska. “These are choices that will have a very negative impact on vulnerable members of our community.”
A former University of Nebraska-Lincoln student and transgender speaker, Ryan Sallans, said the decision was “just a power play around money.”
“Unfortunately, with the present administration and the slashing of funding or having people remove language in order to get funding, and not recognizing the word gender whatsoever, we’re seeing more and more of this happening,” Sallans said.
The university said the policy change aligns them with the beliefs of the community.
“This change reflects our sensitivity to an evolving social climate and our commitment to respecting a range of beliefs and perspectives across the communities that we serve,” the university said in a statement.
The university’s decision appears to be largely in reaction to the Trump administration’s Executive Order 14168, which recognizes only two biological sexes—male and female—within federal law, including interpretations of Title IX. Without legislation, these changes could be undone by a future administration. Rep. Flood indicated he is open to codifying such protections into law.
“I’m open to that. I have not seen any kind of a draft there. I’m on the Financial Services Committee, so it’s not something that would roll through my committee, but I’m open to that. And I think in the past, I have been on bills like that and would be very open to doing that as a co-sponsor in Congress.”
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.