Lt. Gov. Anthony forms task force to bar trans athletes in women’s sports

Nevada’s lieutenant governor formed a task force this week aimed at preventing transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports and exploring how to create fair competition for the sexes.

Reached by phone Friday, Republican Stavros Anthony said he formed the “Lieutenant Governor’s Task Force to Protect Women’s Sports” to address what he described as potential unfairness from women and girl’s playing in athletic competitions against transgender female athletes.

“I wanted a very focused laser beam working together approach in the state of Nevada to make sure that we ban biological men playing in women’s sports,” he said.

Anthony said he didn’t know how many trans athletes play in Nevada, but he has “been told” that there are high school and college players. He said he didn’t believe the effort was wading into “transgender issues.” Instead, he said the task force is focused on biological sex.

The purpose of the task force will be to “promote policies that prioritize fairness, protect women’s safe spaces, uphold opportunities for women, and preserve the integrity of competition,” according to the Tuesday announcement. Anthony said the task force will meet, host town halls and rallies on the issue to spread awareness and hear opposing views.

Anthony said he was spurred to create the task force following the controversy faced by University of Nevada, Reno’s volleyball team. In October, the team forfeited a game against the San Jose State Spartans because of allegations of a transgender player on the team. UNR did not have enough players to compete because “a majority” of players said they would sit out in protest of the participation of transgender women in sports.

The task force’s chair will be Marshi Smith, a Henderson resident, former college athlete and co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports. Other members of the 11-person group include Sen. Carrie Buck, R-Henderson; Assemblyman Bert Gurr, R-Elko; Nevada System of Higher Education Regent Stephanie Goodman and Washoe County Commissioner Clara Andriola.

Buck said she intends to introduce legislation that would promote transparency in athletic leagues. It would create co-ed leagues at the high school and collegiate levels and would require female leagues to inform athletes that the league may have transwomen teammates or competitors. She said the bill is still being drafted.

“I have empathy for those that are transitioning,” Buck said. “But inevitably, I also feel for that biological girl that is competing in the sport and is just going to be taken out because men are better at some sports.”

Advocates push back

LGBTQ advocacy groups described the task force as an attack on transgender Nevadans and a political move. Andre Wade, Silver State Equality’s state director, called it a losing strategy and said youth sports participation should be available to all.

“Our schools should be focused on providing the best possible education and helping to improve the well-being of all students, not actively harming students’ mental health and creating a hostile environment by singling out certain individuals,” Wade said in a statement. “Every child deserves equal access to these opportunities.”

It’s not clear how many transgender student athletes participate in Nevada sports. In a December Senate hearing, NCAA President Charlie Baker said there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes he’s aware of competing in collegiate sports.

Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said he didn’t expect the proposals from task force members and conservatives broadly to become policy in Nevada because of the Democratic-controlled Legislature and state Equal Rights Amendment protections voters added to the Nevada Constitution in 2022. He also argued that trans athletes playing in girls’ and women’s leagues are rare.

He said he suspects the topic has received so much attention because of its place in “culture wars.”

“There’s been tens of millions of dollars across the country poured into attempting to paint every trans athlete, effectively, as LeBron James in drag, which is the furthest thing from reality and what’s happening across the country,” Haseebullah said.

“I think the majority of legislators that I’ve spoken to are focused on fixing public education.”

Despite its low prevalence, the issue continues to be top of mind for both parties. A federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to strengthen Title IX protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in a ruling on Thursday, ruling the Education Department had overstepped on sex discrimination and First Amendment grounds.

More than half of states ban of transgender girls and women participating in sports aligned with their gender identity through legislation or state rules, according to the Movement Advancement Project think tank.

A 2020 Idaho ban – which included a sex dispute verification process that would require someone to undergo medical exams to verify their sex — faced an injunction from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The June 2024 decision said it likely violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The state has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.

President-Elect Donald Trump has vowed to take up the issue through the executive branch.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.