Nevada suit challenges Lombardo-backed ballot language on transgender girls’ sports
A women’s rights group filed a Nevada lawsuit aimed at keeping a proposed ballot initiative off the 2026 election ballot that would largely restrict transgender female student athletes to sports teams based on sex assigned at birth. The suit was filed Jan. 29 by Sue Burtch, the executive director of the Nevada chapter of the National Organization for Women, according to the complaint described in reporting that led to the Associated Press story.
The initiative, announced last month under Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, would amend the Equal Rights Amendment that Nevada voters passed in 2022. Under the proposal, transgender female K-12 and college student athletes would be largely prevented from playing in the sport category that best aligns with their gender identity, while the measure would create exceptions when there is no team available for female students.
Burtch’s lawsuit argues the initiative’s ballot language is unlawful and misleading. The complaint asserts that the initiative description does not comply with Nevada statute “because it is deceptive, misleading, and fails to explain the ramifications of the proposed amendment to allow voters to make an informed decision, and is therefore invalid,” according to the memorandum of points and authorities quoted in the reporting.
The filing also questions whether the proponents can show that injuries to female athletes caused by transgender athletes, or transgender athletes unfairly winning competitions, are a serious and prevalent enough concern to justify amending the state constitution. The memorandum quoted in the reporting says, “Obviously, we all know the answer to these questions, and also that Proponents cannot point even to a single current instance of a school athlete competing against the terms of the proposed Petition,” and it adds that proponents “cannot satisfy the mandate to describe what their Petition would achieve if they cannot bring themselves to be honest about their project in the first instance.”
As relief, the plaintiff is asking the court to declare the initiative invalid and to prohibit the secretary of state from placing the petition on the 2026 general election ballot. The suit also seeks to bar Protect Girls Sports PAC from taking further action and from gathering signatures on the petition.
The lawsuit identifies the Protect Girls Sports PAC as the vehicle for the ballot effort, and reporting described several leaders associated with the effort. The leaders named include Lombardo, who would serve as the initiative’s honorary chair, state Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama, attorney Adriana Guzmán Fralick—who is running in the Republican primary for Nevada attorney general—and Erica Neely—who is running in the Republican primary for the Assembly seat held by Speaker Steve Yeager, who is not running for re-election.
Ben Kieckhefer, described as a former state senator who recently served as Lombardo’s chief of staff, is listed as someone who can withdraw or amend the initiative, according to the reporting. In addition, Burtch’s attorney, Bradley Schrager, told reporters that a hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20 in the First Judicial District Court in Carson City.
Lombardo, in a Wednesday statement carried in the reporting, said, “This initiative is about fairness and safety in girls’ sports, nothing more,” adding that, “These efforts are simply an attempt to delay the signature gathering process.” The reporting also said it was not clear how many transgender student athletes, if any, are in Nevada, and noted that the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and the NCAA have already adopted policies that largely limit sports to athletes’ sex assigned at birth.