Should he win reelection in November, Gov. Joe Lombardo would push for legislation to limit the participation of transgender athletes in state-funded sports, he said Friday.
Lombardo’s announcement came a day after the Nevada Supreme Court — in a 6-0 decision — affirmed a lower court ruling that allowed the “Protect Girls’ Sports” ballot initiative to proceed to the November election, which would have granted Nevada voters a say on the issue.
To complete the ballot initiative, its organizers were required to gather at least 148,788 signatures across the state’s four congressional districts by next Wednesday.
But case-related delays and uncertainty made it impossible to submit the petition on time, Lombardo said in a statement Friday.
“Unfortunately, the long delays and uncertainty surrounding this case have made it impossible to complete the initiative process in time for the 2026 ballot,” he said.
The Republican governor said that he would instead ask the Nevada Legislature to take up the issue during its next biennial session slated for February.
The governor is the most prominent Nevada backer of the initiative organized by the Protect Girls’ Sports PAC. He said the effort has overwhelming support in the state, a claim disputed by opponents.
“Female athletes deserve a permanent solution that protects female athletics,” Lombardo said. “If lawmakers refuse to do the right thing, we will take the court approval language directly to the voters in 2028.”
Ford and opponents respond
Attorney General Aaron Ford is campaigning to oust Lombardo in November.
“Joe Lombardo lost what he called his ‘vote getter’ – and now, just as he predicted, his abysmal first term that wrecked the economy and drove up costs will cost him reelection,” the Democrat said in a statement. “Nevadans want leaders who are focused on getting us out of the cost-of-living crisis Lombardo has created. That’s the Governor I will be.”
The Las Vegas-based Bravo Schrager law firm represented the proposed measure’s challenger, Sue Burtch, in court.
“The governor never had any intention of gathering signatures for this measure,” said Attorney Bradley Schrager in a statement. “This was a cruel and absurd proposal, which the governor dropped as soon as his own poll numbers suggested spending millions on this would take money from his gasping re-election effort.”
The firm touts itself as representing progressive causes in Nevada and Burtch is the executive director of the Nevada chapter of the National Organization for Women.
Silver State Equality, a civil rights organization that advocates for LGBTQ Nevadans, also theorized that ballot organizers weren’t going to gather enough signatures.
“Throughout this process, advocates, parents, educators, community members, and countless others spoke out against enshrining discrimination into the Nevada Constitution,” the nonprofit said in a statement. “Yet despite months of political attention, the policy landscape remains exactly as it was when this initiative was first introduced.”
Proposed policy
It’s unclear how many transgender athletes participate in Nevada sports leagues.
The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs high school sports in the state, modified its policy to prohibit athletes from competing in leagues or teams that don’t correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificates.
The rule change came after President Donald Trump issued the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order shortly after his second inauguration.
Under the Nevada initiative, athletes born male would be barred from teams designated for female athletes, and vice versa — in most cases. Athletes born female would be allowed to participate on male teams if there is no corresponding girls or women team available.
The rule would not apply to co-ed or mixed-sex sports leagues, according to the proposal.
The plaintiff’s legal arguments, in part, centered around whether the proposal sufficiently described the scope of the issue or its effects on Nevada’s existing laws and policies.
District Court Judge Jason Woodbury dismissed the challenge in Carson City earlier this year. He instead revised supplemental language in the initiative to explicitly note that the measure would amend the Nevada Constitution’s right to equality regardless of gender identity or expression.
“The fight is not over,” Lombardo said. “Nevada’s girls deserve a level playing field, and I will make sure they get it.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
