“I think we need to acknowledge that this bill would kill people,” says Paul Kwon, Ph.D.and director of the Queer Resilience Research Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno.
In the current ballot process for November’s election in Nevada is the Nevada Biological Sex Requirements for School Sports Programs Amendment, also known as the “Protect Girls Sports PAC” ballot measure. This ballot measure is currently collecting signatures to qualify to appear as a referendum in November.
Funded by the Protect Girls Sports political action committee (PAC) and backed by Governor Joe Lombardo, this measure would enforce that athletes perform on teams aligning with their gender assigned at birth within Nevada athletics. The measure would affect all sports entities that receive state funding, including school sports and many community nonprofits.
“The State and its political subdivisions shall designate athletic participation in all athletic competitions, including team sports, as one of the following based on biological sex at birth: (a) for males, men, or boys; (b) for females, women, or girls; or (c) coeducational or mixed-sex. This subsection applies to all recipients of State funds who operate, sponsor, or facilitate athletic programs or activities. An athletic team or sport designated for biological females, women, or girls shall not be open to biological males,” reads the proposed ballot measure.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the regulatory body for college sports in the US, does not currently permit transgender women athletes to compete on women’s sports teams in compliance with an executive order issued by President Trump in February 2025. The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, which regulates high school sports in Nevada, adopted a similar policy in April 2025. While transgender women are not currently permitted to participate in women’s sports in Nevada, the proposed ballot measure would cement this policy into the state constitution. This means that instead of individual body changes (i.e.the NAACP, the school district) being able to decide trans policies, the state constitution would need to be amended. This would require one of three paths: referendum (must receive 10% of votes cast in preceding election to make it on the ballot, then win the majority two elections in a row), Legislature (majority vote from two successive legislative votes), or convention (⅔ vote from the Nevada State Legislature.)
In February, a Nevada citizen and women’s rights activist, Sue Burtch, filed a lawsuit against Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and the Protect Girls Sports PAC under the claim that the proposed referendum did not make clear that it would create an exception to the Equality of Rights Amendment that voters approved in 2022, which includes equal rights regardless of gender identity. Carson City Judge Jason Woodbury allowed the amendment to proceed, but required a rewrite to clarify to voters the constitutional exception being made. This means that Nevadans are entitled to equal rights regardless of gender identity, with the exception of trans folks in sports.
This ballot would go to constituent vote at the same time Lombardo, the measure’s biggest indorsee, will be facing reelection. Rival gubernatorial candidate and sitting Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has accused Lombardo of creating/endorsing this measure simply as a “political ploy” to drum up support. Lombardo is on the leadership team of Support Girls PAC, and has strongly endorsed the measure, saying in a press release that “we are taking thoughtful steps to ensure girls’ sports are fair and athletes are safe.” Critics note that Lombardo previously signed a bill (2023) requiring health insurers to cover gender-affirming care for transgender minors and adults, fueling accusations that he is endorsing the Protect Girls Sports ballot measure to garner support based on culture war issues.
Ben Kieckhefer, the endorsing Nevada State Senate member and the only person eligible to amend or withdraw the constitution, did not respond to a request for comment.
The lieutenant governor’s office, when asked about the measure they referred to as the “No men in girls sports measure,” said they would ask Lt Gov. Stavros Anthony if he had any comment on the ballot measure; the office never extended official comment.
West X Juhl, director of communications and campaigns for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada, said the political focus on transgender and gender-diverse people raises serious civil rights and social justice concerns. “It’s not a simple thing –there’s a very clear impact it’ll have on trans and queer youth, but it’s also creating a process for men deciding who’s woman enough. This measure has serious implications on bodily autonomy.”
Juhl also raised concerns about targeting, saying that because gender-diverse people are such a proportionally small subset of the population, legislation or constitutional changes to exclude or target them is always a concern for discrimination and identity suppression.
Bruce Parks, the chairman of the Washoe County Republican Party, isn’t worried about civil rights concerns with this measure. “Trans make up less than one percent of the population. Why are we catering to such a small group instead of protecting girls? It needs to be fair,” he said.
Parks said the proposed measure is about the safety of the community. “You do you, let me do me. Don’t interfere with me, I don’t interfere with you. Matter of fact I know an individual who dresses as a woman who’s a biological male. I’ve got no problem with that. But if you expect me to buy into your delusions, that’s not happening.”
A systematic review from the British Journal of Sports Medicine on body composition and physical fitness in transgender versus cisgender individuals concluded that while transgender women exhibited higher lean mass than cisgender women, their physical fitness was comparable. After having undergone hormone replacement therapy, the study found many trans women perform athletically poorer than cis women.
Addressing advantage, Parks said that it is “absolutely unfair.” When asked about the study, Parks said, “Look, leftists are always saying ‘trust the science, trust the science’. Here’s the science – biological males should not compete against women. They have higher lung capacity, higher muscle mass – did you hear about the girl who was slammed in the head with a ball and suffered life altering injuries because of it? From a biological male. It’s just absolutely unfair.” [It’s unclear what event Parks is referring to.]
Addressing social concerns, Parks restated that a state cannot cater to less than one percent of the population. Juhl pushes back against this: “This will have a serious impact on community mental health. When anti-trans policies are proposed, there is a serious impact on youth mental health. Using a small portion of the population that’s misunderstood to proliferate myths is really dangerous.”
Paul Kwon, the director of UNR’s queer resilience research lab, seconds this idea. “Anything that people are excluded from simply because of their identity, I think we need to acknowledge that this would kill people. Suicide is such a major problem for the gender-diverse community. No matter what kind of ostracism it is, from belonging to a church or going to a particular university or joining the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts or whatever. Being rejected from families, being rejected from peer groups, not being accepted at school. All those things are clearly documented contributors to mental health problems. Transgender folks have a 40% lifetime prevalence rate of suicide attempts. General population, it’s 1.6%. And it’s because of lack of inclusion, discrimination, and this measure would fall squarely in that category,” he said.
UNR faced its own controversy over trans women in sports in October 2024, when the Nevada women’s volleyball team forfeited a scheduled game against San Jose State University (SJSU) due to a lack of players. Very few of UNR’s players were willing to attend, as SJSU allegedly had a trans woman player on their team. The team’s decision followed several other Mountain West volleyball teams forfeiting games against SJSU for the same reason. The conservative activist who held a rally with members of the Nevada volleyball team in 2024 and a participant in ongoing litigation with NCAA over allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports, Riley Gaines, is in fierce opposition to transgender athlete inclusion. Following the controversy at UNR, Gaines said she “never would have imagined that you would give a standing ovation to a woman for merely saying men and women are different.”
Aaron Juarez, assistant athletics director and strategic communications director for Nevada Athletics, told The Nevada Sagebrush, “The University follows NCAA and Mountain West Conference guidelines for participation. Current NCAA policy states: ‘The participation policy for transgender student-athletes adopted by the Board of Governors and effective February 6, 2025, does not permit competition by an individual assigned male at birth to compete on a women’s team.’” He had no further comment.
This measure, if successful in signature collection, will appear for citizen referendum this November.