Nevada

Nevada among leaders in LGBTQ+ protection, but challenges remain

Published

2 years ago

February 14, 2024

Nevada among leaders in LGBTQ+ protection, but challenges remain

Jessica Munger
| Reno Gazette Journal

LGBTQ+ students across the United States are facing the violence and victimization that has come with being used as political pawns for the advancement of the conservative movement. Their personhood is being questioned by authority figures, their efforts to build community are being oppressed at school, and their rights are being debated by callous talking heads on a national stage. And that’s on top of navigating a perma-pandemic, underfunded schools and the general challenges of transition into adulthood. Our young people are struggling.

Last year the Silver State Equality LGBTQ+ Student Advisory Council was formed to investigate the experiences and needs of LGBTQ+ students in Nevada and bring that information to the larger community, and specifically to decision-makers. The council of 12 students and seven adult mentors created and distributed a survey asking Nevada LGBTQ+ students about inclusivity in school resources and curriculum, as well as bullying and discrimination. The council also had in-depth conversations about their own experiences and with other students. Here are the results of that survey.

More: ‘Heartbreaking’ findings in survey of Nevada LGBTQ+ students

It’s becoming more widely known that Nevada has some of the strongest protections for LGBTQ+ people and families, and we are proud of the legislative work we’ve done to secure those. One of the legislative victories we’re most proud of is Assembly Bill 261, which passed in 2021 and mandates diversity and inclusion in statewide academic standards, particularly the history and contributions of enumerated groups historically underrepresented. Of course, implementation of these mandates takes time, bureaucracy, money and cooperation, but it’s notable that 39.1% of students we surveyed reported never learning about LGBTQ+ history, being assigned books by LGBTQ+ authors, or hearing LGBTQ+ stories or people referenced in class. Students in rural schools were even less likely to have experienced LGBTQ+ curriculum than students in urban schools.

During the listening campaign, several students commented that they know Nevada is a relatively good place for LGBTQ+ people, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot left to do. One Nevada high schooler said many of their LGBTQ+ peers are thinking of staying in state for college because there are more protections for queer people here than many other states. They said, “It’s hard sometimes, every time I hear about hate happening anywhere, I get a little more scared to leave my house and go to school. I know legally I’m protected in Nevada, but individually, I don’t feel it as much.”

In fact, 38.7 percent of students we surveyed say they do not feel secure at school, and 79.4% reported having experienced discrimination from those in authority for their LGBTQ+ identity. That’s nearly 80 percent of surveyed students reported being discriminated against by school authority figures for their LGBTQ+ status. One Nevada 12th grader, said, “The (school) climate right now is very toxic and mentally taxing.”

And while every group within the LGBTQ+ community faces unique challenges, we should have a particular awareness of the experiences of trans and gender-diverse students. Many of the policies currently being waged against our young people are directly targeting trans and nonbinary students — specifically their clothes, their bathrooms, their names, their pronouns and their medical care. In this wide rural state, there are many of these young people in dire situations.

If you’ve been to a public meeting of your library or school board recently, there’s a chance you’ve heard the overwhelming statistics about the suicide rate of young trans people. The Trevor Project’s 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People found that 41% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including roughly half of transgender and nonbinary youth. However, I want to add some important context to this data. Trans and nonbinary young people are not suicidal because they are trans and nonbinary. They are suicidal because of the way people treat them for being trans and nonbinary. Their transness and beautiful nonbinary identities are being pathologized and threatened by grown adults using children for their political agendas, and the spewing of hate speech and disgraceful rhetoric turns into agenda items and policy ideas. It turns into other youth hearing what their parents say. And it turns into bullying and violence at school, which turns into young people wanting to end their lives. There are very real consequences for students to the social and political climate created by adults. Shame on them.

Another thing to note about LGBTQ+ young people is that they are smart, they are organizing, and they are not alone. I’m simultaneously watching adult allies, parents, teachers, activists and experts showing up for these students. And through the process of this survey, I met several teachers who are bravely standing up for these students and their rights at school.

There will always be good people who see what’s happening and try to help. Thank you to those teachers hosting the Gay Straight Alliance student groups in their classrooms at lunch, or showing up to six-hour school board meetings after long work days. We see you, and we need you. Together, we will continue to hear these students, make their needs known, and do everything in our power to keep them safe –— including creating more legislation to explicitly protect them.

If you’re an ally to young LGBTQ+ people and have a group who would like to hear more about our survey, contact me at jessica@silverstateequality.org to arrange a presentation.

Jessica Munger is the program director for Silver State Equality.

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Nevada

Outdoor tourism grows in Nevada despite Las Vegas Strip visitor decline

Published

11 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Outdoor tourism grows in Nevada despite Las Vegas Strip visitor decline

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — While Strip tourism declined this year, outdoor recreation across Nevada continues to grow, with some areas seeing increased business and new facilities opening to accommodate visitors.

Valley of Fire State Park reached 1 million visitors this year and recently opened a new $30 million visitors center. Lake Mead National Recreation Area also continues to draw tourists, including those taking holiday-themed rafting tours through Black Canyon.

Chad Taylor, director of operations for the Hospitality Division of Guest Services and Hoover Dam Rafting Adventures, calls outdoor recreation an “enormous” boost for the state economy.

Last month, the Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation (NDOR) released an Economic Impact Analysis finding that outdoor recreation is a $24 billion industry in Nevada, generating $13.7 billion in total economic output, supporting more than 75,000 jobs, and contributing $8.8 billion to the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

NDOR reports outdoor recreation has officially surpassed the mining industry in GDP contribution and is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of Nevada’s economic diversification strategy.

The Hoover Dam Rafting Adventure, which has operated for more than four decades, saw slightly lower numbers this year for its 12-mile Colorado River tours starting at the base of the dam. Taylor said the rafting business typically follows Las Vegas tourism trends.

“As Las Vegas tourism increases or decreases, we typically see the same out here for the tour specifically,” Taylor said.

However, other outdoor properties showed growth. Taylor said Lake Mead properties, including Callville Bay, Cottonwood Cove, and Temple Bar, saw increased business this year.

Taylor, who sits on the governor’s advisory board for outdoor tourism, said the state is investing heavily in outdoor recreation infrastructure. Nevada is building Adventure Centers in Northern Nevada and Southern Nevada.

The Southern Nevada Adventure Center, under construction in Boulder City, will serve as a one-stop shop for booking outdoor activities. The facility is expected to open in summer 2026.

“Not only at the federal level, but the state level, the amount of energy and effort that they’ve put into outdoor recreation over the last few years, especially when it comes to the two new adventure centers that they’re building in Northern Nevada and Southern Nevada, they’re doubling down on outdoor recreation,” Taylor said.

The Hoover Dam rafting company continues its holiday-themed tours with Santa through Christmas Eve.

The Hoover Dam rafting company continues its holiday-themed tours with Santa through Christmas Eve.(FOX5)

Reservations can be made at hooverdamraftingadventures.com or by calling (800) 455-3490.

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Nevada

Bill by Nevada’s Amodei to ramp up mining on public land passes House

Published

23 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Bill by Nevada’s Amodei to ramp up mining on public land passes House

The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday put forward by Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei that would reinvigorate mining activity on federal lands.

Amodei, a Republican who represents the state’s top half, described the bill as strengthening the nation’s mineral supply chain and helping to counter China’s dominance with minerals.

“Western states are sitting on a wealth of resources and a critical opportunity to break our dangerous reliance on foreign adversaries while powering our own economy,” he said in a statement.

“The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act … gives domestic mining operations the certainty they need to compete aggressively and win.”

The bill passed 219 to 198. Republicans voted 210 in favor, 1 opposed and 9 not voting. Democrats voted 9 in favor, 197 opposed and 7 not voting. It was one of the House’s last actions before adjourning for the year.

Nevada delegation split on mining bill

Amodei was joined by Las Vegas Democrat Steven Horsford, who co-sponsored the bill in the House.

“Streamlining the hardrock mining process will create good jobs and strengthen our energy sector,” Horsford said.

The state’s other two House members — Democrats Susie Lee and Dina Titus — voted in opposition.

Titus spokesperson Dick Cooper told the Reno Gazette Journal that the congresswoman voted no because the bill would allow for increased dumping of mine waste on public lands.

“It would also allow mining companies to gain permanent rights to occupy public lands and preclude other uses including recreational and cultural uses,” he added.

It now heads to the Senate, where Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto will work to get it passed.

“This bill is common sense, and it’s key for communities across Nevada that count on mining for their livelihoods,” Cortez Masto said in a social media post.

Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, a Democrat, also supports it. She helped introduce the Senate companion version of Amodei’s bill.

“Nevada is one of the few places in the United States with an abundance of critical minerals and a robust hardrock mining industry,” Rosen said. “The responsible mining of these minerals supports thousands of jobs and will help to strengthen our domestic manufacturing and clean energy supply chains.”

What does Amodei’s Mining Regulatory Clarity Act do?

The bill is a response to a 2022 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals involving the Rosemont Copper Mine in Arizona.

The decision basically meant that mining companies must prove valuable minerals exist on a piece of land before they can dump waste material on it. Called the “mineral validity” requirement, it disrupted decades of precedent.

Amodei’s bill would reverse that and allow the practice to resume of using nearby land for mining waste without proving the land contains commercial deposits — something mining companies say is essential for operating on federal land.

“This legislation ensures the fundamental ability to conduct responsible mining activities on federal lands,” said Rich Nolan, National Mining Association president and CEO, in a statement. “Regulatory certainty, or the lack thereof, will either underpin or undermine efforts to decisively confront our minerals crisis.”

The bill also creates an “Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund.” Some fees related to mining claims will be used to fund a program to inventory, assess and clean up abandoned hardrock mines.

Environmental groups blast House vote on Mining Regulatory Clarity Act

Some environmental groups campaigned against the bill and described it as choosing corporate interests over people, Native Americans’ rights and the environment.

Lauren Pagel, policy director for Earthworks, said the bill “will remove already-scarce protections for natural resources and sacred cultural sites in U.S. mining law.”

The Center for Biological Diversity said the bill surrenders public lands to mining conglomerates.

“The so-called Mining Regulatory Clarity Act would bypass the validity requirement and grant mining companies — including foreign companies — the statutory right to permanently occupy and indiscriminately use public lands upon approval of a company’s self-written plan of operations,” said the nonprofit conservation organization in an online post.

Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.

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Nevada

California school district near Nevada caught up in a dispute over transgender athlete policies – WTOP News

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

California school district near Nevada caught up in a dispute over transgender athlete policies – WTOP News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Lake Tahoe school district is caught between California and Nevada’s competing policies on transgender student…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Lake Tahoe school district is caught between California and Nevada’s competing policies on transgender student athletes, a dispute that’s poised to reorder where the district’s students compete.

High schools in California’s Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District, set in a mountainous, snow-prone area near the border with Nevada, have for decades competed in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, or NIAA. That has allowed sports teams to avoid making frequent and potentially hazardous trips in poor winter weather to competitions farther to the west, district officials say.

But the Nevada association voted in April to require students in sex-segregated sports programs to play on teams that align with their sex assigned at birth — a departure from a previous approach allowing individual schools to set their own standards. The move raised questions for how the Tahoe-Truckee district would remain in the Nevada association while following California law, which says students can play on teams consistent with their gender identity.

Now, California’s Department of Education is requiring the district to join the California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF, by the start of next school year.

District Superintendent Kerstin Kramer said at a school board meeting this week the demand puts the district in a difficult position.

“No matter which authority we’re complying with we are leaving students behind,” she said. “So we have been stuck.”

There are currently no known transgender student athletes competing in high school sports in Tahoe-Truckee Unified, district officials told the education department in a letter. But a former student filed a complaint with the state in June after the board decided to stick with Nevada athletics, Kramer said.

A national debate

The dispute comes amid a nationwide battle over the rights of transgender youth in which states have restricted transgender girls from participating on girls sports teams, barred gender-affirming surgeries for minors and required parents to be notified if a child changes their pronouns at school. At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some of the policies have been blocked in court.

Meanwhile, California is fighting the Trump administration in court over transgender athlete policies. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February aimed at banning transgender women and girls from participating in female athletics. The U.S. Justice Department also sued the California Department of Education in July, alleging its policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams violates federal law.

And Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has signedlaws aimed at protecting trans youth, shocked party allies in March when he raised questions on his podcast about the fairness of trans women and girls competing against other female athletes. His office did not comment on the Tahoe-Truckee Unified case, but said Newsom “rejects the right wing’s cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids.”

The state education department said in a statement that all California districts must follow the law regardless of which state’s athletic association they join.

At the Tahoe-Truckee school board meeting this week, some parents and one student said they opposed allowing trans girls to participate on girls teams.

“I don’t see how it would be fair for female athletes to compete against a biological male because they’re stronger, they’re taller, they’re faster,” said Ava Cockrum, a Truckee High School student on the track and field team. “It’s just not fair.”

But Beth Curtis, a civil rights attorney whose children attended schools in Tahoe-Truckee Unified, said the district should fight NIAA from implementing its trans student athlete policy as violating the Nevada Constitution.

Asking for more time

The district has drafted a plan to transition to the California federation by the 2028-2029 school year after state officials ordered it to take action. It’s awaiting the education department’s response.

Curtis doesn’t think the state will allow the district to delay joining CIF, the California federation, another two years, noting the education department is vigorously defending its law against the Trump administration: “They’re not going to fight to uphold the law and say to you at the same time, ‘Okay, you can ignore it for two years.’”

Tahoe-Truckee Unified’s two high schools with athletic programs, which are located about 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) in elevation, compete against both California and Nevada teams in nearby mountain towns — and others more distant and closer to sea level. If the district moves to the California federation, Tahoe-Truckee Unified teams may have to travel more often in bad weather across a risky mountain pass — about 7,000 feet (2,100 meters) in elevation above a lake — to reach schools farther from state lines.

Coleville High School, a small California school in the Eastern Sierra near the Nevada border, has also long been a member of the Nevada association, said Heidi Torix, superintendent of the Eastern Sierra Unified School District. The school abides by California law regarding transgender athletes, Torix said.

The school has not been similarly ordered by California to switch where it competes. The California Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment on whether it’s warned any other districts not in the California federation about possible noncompliance with state policy.

State Assemblymember Heather Hadwick, a Republican representing a large region of northern California bordering Nevada, said Tahoe-Truckee Unified shouldn’t be forced to join the CIF.

“I urge California Department of Education and state officials to fully consider the real-world consequences of this decision—not in theory, but on the ground—where weather, geography, and safety matter,” Hadwick said.

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