Nevada's battle over transgender athlete participation heats up in Carson City

CARSON CITY — Inside the Nevada Statehouse on Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony and supporters cheered on President Donald Trump’s new executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports in the nation’s schools.

Outside the building, dozens of others, including some lawmakers, were expressing concerns about Trump’s order and Anthony’s recently created“Task Force to Protect Women’s Sports.”

“There is a place for everyone to play sports in Nevada,” said the Republican Anthony. “But no one is entitled to something that takes something away from someone else.”

The gatherings — on National Girls and Women in Sports Day — came in the first week of the 2025 Nevada Legislature and about a month after Anthony created the task force, as his fellow Republicans at the federal level zero in on limiting access for transgender athletes and gender-nonconforming individuals. The phrase “men in women’s sports” has become championed by the GOP and called a dog whistle by its critics.

“Even if, let’s say, that one person in this one area of life has an advantage,” said Sally Lawes, a Reno resident who was part of the demonstration outside, “in every other area, they’re disadvantaged.”

André Wade, state director for Silver State Equality, called the task force “misguided and unnecessary.” Silver State Equality advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community.

“We are happy to talk to him and anyone who is part of the task force, including when we introduce bills to talk about their concerns and fears and issues,” Wade said. “So we can come to some sort of agreement on how to protect all people who want to participate in sports.”

Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, D-Las Vegas, told Anthony she was not “sure in the duties and roles that you described earlier, what connection women’s sports has to the office of lieutenant governor.”

She then asked him to explain how state funds and resources were being allocated to the task force, “including staff, time, use of supplies, equipment, and the travel expenses that may be incurred.”

Anthony said he was inspired to create the force because he was “very passionate about protecting female athletes,” and cited the majority of the UNR women’s volleyball team refusing to participate in matches last year against San Jose State University, which had a transgender player on its team.

“I decided that one of my responsibilities as lieutenant governor was to support these female athletes,” he said as a matter of explanation.

As for his use of state funds, Anthony said, “I have employees that are helping me with the task force and, actually, with everything that I do with the lieutenant governor’s office.”

Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D-Las Vegas, told Anthony that “it’s my personal opinion that the lieutenant governor looks out for all Nevadans. And yes, we have many different groups of people and that’s why the lieutenant governor oversees all of Nevada and generally doesn’t take a stance.”

Anthony told the Sun he didn’t understand the legislators’ line of questioning.

“I’m the lieutenant governor in Nevada. I’m paid by the taxpayers,” he said. “But I get it. I have certain responsibilities, and if I get passionate about something, then that’s my job to do that.”

Trump’s order calls for educational institutions receiving federal dollars to lose funding if they allow a transgender athlete to play on a female sports team or use female locker rooms.

“With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said. “Should’ve been done long ago, actually.”

That action isn’t enough on its own, said state Sen. Carrie Buck, R-Henderson.

“Nevada cannot rely solely on new executive orders to protect women’s sports,” Buck said at Anthony’s rally. “Strong state laws and policies are essential to ensure that no woman in Nevada ever has her accomplishments taken away on the court, on the track or in the pool by a male competitor.”

That’s why she’s proposed Senate Bill 112 requiring high schools and higher education institutions to designate athletic teams by sex assigned at birth.

The U.S. House additionally passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025 to amend Title IX to recognize a person’s “sex” as “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

“Sens. (Jacky) Rosen and (Catherine) Cortez Masto have historically not stood up in defense of female athletes for their equal opportunities,” task force chair Marshi Smith said about Nevada’s Democratic U.S. senators. “But they now have the choice. They can say yes to the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.”

Smith encouraged attendees to write letters to state lawmakers before leaving, urging them to support Buck’s proposal.

“Our state Legislature has the chance now to add Nevada to the map of 25 and growing states who have already passed state laws ensuring girls’ sports are for girls only,” Smith said.

Lawes, who is gay and a parent to a nonbinary child, came to Carson City wearing a gay pride flag tie and bringing concerns regarding the status of the rights for her and her loved ones.

“My daily life now includes trying to figure out when it’s time to get out before it’s too late,” Lawes said.

She stood among a crowd that held signs with messages including, “You won’t ERASE anyone” painted over a transgender flag and “ ‘LAND OF THE FREE’ ... some restrictions apply.” Cars driving by honked and rolled down their windows in support as demonstrators stood on the edge of the sidewalk, chanting phrases like, “The Trump regime has got to go!”

Ron Lopez, who also came to the protest from Reno, said he wanted to show “two-spirit lives matter.” The term has many definitions but is generally used by Indigenous people to describe their gender identity and or sexual orientation, highlighting their connection with cultural and spiritual traditions, according to a resource from the Human Rights Campaign.

“Whether it’s he, she or any type of pronoun, trans, all that stuff,” Lopez said, “people should be able to live the life they want to.”

As protesters gathered for hours, just a short distance away, state Sen. James Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, introduced Senate Bill 171, which calls for prohibiting licensing boards from disqualifying from licensure or disciplining a person who provided gender-affirming medical care.

Similar legislation was approved in the 2023 session, but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

“It’s important legislation. I think it was important last session,” Ohrenschall said. “I don’t think any health care provider, patient, parent should be afraid to seek out health care.”

Silver State Equality, which helped draft some of the bill’s language, is again supporting the legislation.

“We just hope the bill will be passed and signed into law ... so that providers and people accessing the services will be protected,” Wade said.

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