Lombardo Backs Constitutional Push to Protect Girls’ Sports in Nevada

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo is backing a constitutional push aimed at restoring fairness and safety in women’s sports, joining a new ballot initiative that would bar transgender athletes from competing in female athletic categories statewide.

On Wednesday, the Protect Girls’ Sports Political Action Committee, alongside Governor Lombardo, filed paperwork to amend Nevada’s Constitution. The proposal would restrict female sports participation to biological females, placing the issue directly before voters after repeated failures by the Democrat-controlled Legislature to act.

Supporters say the move reflects common sense and long-standing athletic standards. Marshi Smith, a Nevada mother and former NCAA champion swimmer, said lawmakers have ignored parents and female athletes who have raised concerns for years.

Smith, a cofounder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sport, said the initiative is necessary because lawmakers declined to codify protections for girls’ sports, even as evidence of physical differences between male and female athletes remains undisputed across every major sport.

During the previous legislative session, a bill requiring schools to designate sports teams by biological sex failed to advance. That failure, supporters argue, left parents with no choice but to turn directly to voters.

While organizations like the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and the NCAA have already adopted rules excluding transgender athletes from women’s competitions, proponents say those policies are fragile and reversible without constitutional backing.

Smith emphasized that the issue extends beyond fairness to safety, particularly in sports where physical power and speed differences pose real risks to female athletes. She argued that sex-based athletic categories exist for a reason and that ignoring biology undermines both competition and athlete welfare.

Opponents of the initiative, including transgender activist Sarah Amie Dorsey, argue the proposal is unnecessary and claim lawmakers should focus on broader economic issues. Those arguments, however, are being framed by supporters as political deflection rather than engagement with the core question of competitive equity.

Smith rejected claims that the initiative strips anyone of rights, stating that sports participation has always involved eligibility standards and that equal opportunity does not mean eliminating meaningful distinctions.

Dorsey has called for further study and research rather than broad restrictions, framing the proposal as unfair. Supporters counter that decades of sports science and sex-based athletic separation already provide the necessary evidence.

If supporters collect enough signatures, the proposal would appear on the 2026 general election ballot and again in 2028. Approval in both elections would amend Nevada’s Constitution.

With similar cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Nevada initiative could place the state at the center of a national debate over fairness, accountability, and the future of women’s sports.

Original reporting: News 3