Nevada Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony was reprimanded and fined $3,000 for violating state ethics law by using public resources in support of a 2025 task force he spearheaded that aimed to prevent transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports.
Furthermore, the State of Nevada Commission on Ethics on Wednesday ordered Anthony to undergo ethics training and for his office to craft a social media policy.
In a partial judgement, the commission ruled that Anthony willfully violated the state’s ethics law by using state time, government social media accounts, official letterhead and his office’s seal in support of his private social media.
He was cleared of allegations that he willfully used government resources for his private interest.
Attorney Gus Flangas, who represented Anthony, argued during the lengthy hearing that the official hadn’t personally benefited from the use of the resources. He said Anthony’s task force was in the public interest, and he compared it to other general issues issues like benefits for veterans and health care advocacy.
Just because he cared about the issue, Flangas said, it’s a stretch to suggest that he had a significant personal interest. He said Anthony wasn’t campaigning when the alleged violations occurred.
“I need to remind everybody here that there’s no law, there’s no rule, no regulation, no policy that prohibits the lieutenant governor from advocating a specific position,” he said.
Anthony and Flangas did not respond after the ruling to messages seeking comment.
Commission Executive Director Ross Armstrong said the elected lieutenant governor’s position has specific duties outlined in the Nevada Constitution. He rebuffed a claim that the complaint had targeted Anthony’s First Amendment rights.
“There is nothing in the ethics law that restricts a government official’s ability to speak out… about a matter they believe is important,” Armstrong said.
He said the complaint actually dealt with Anthony’s use of office staff and other resources to spread the message.
Anthony told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last year that the Lieutenant Governor’s Task Force to Protect Women’s Sports aimed to address what he described as potential unfairness in athletic competitions.
“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.
In a separate effort, Gov. Joe Lombardo announced in January that he was going to lead a ballot initiative to prevent transgender athletes from competing in leagues of their gender identity.
Critics have described the initiative is political and said it would likely face legal challenges.
“As so many people are struggling all across the state on a variety of issues, why is our governor focused on doing this?” said Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, at the time.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com
