Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and GOP challenger Captain Sam Brown squared off in a hour-long debate last night covering issues related to inflation, the border, foreign policy, housing, and the latest controversy related to transgender athletes competing against female athletes.

This week, the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) women’s volleyball team announced they would forfeit their upcoming Oct. 26 match against San Jose State University (SJSU) due to their transgender player Blaire Fleming. The team specifically cited “fairness and safety concerns” as their reasons for forfeit.

To avoid legal liability, the university announced the match will be held despite the players’ commitment to forfeit. The players will not be forced to participate in the match, and they, in turn, announced that they will not compete, despite the university’s decision.

When asked about the controversy, Rosen replied:

“I can tell you that all student athletes deserve to have a fair competition and a level playing field. So I support parents, coaches, and the governing leagues. They are the governing bodies. They are the experts. I believe that they are the right ones to make these decisions, not politicians. So as in every other sporting issue, we allow the governing bodies to make those decisions. I think we should do that now.”

The moderators then turned to Sam Brown, asking: “Mister Brown, what rights, if any, should transgender athletes have while competing in women’s collegiate sports?

Brown replied, “Nevada, let me be clear. What we just heard was a politician say that she does not have enough knowledge on this issue to know whether or not biological males should be allowed to play in women’s sports. I will not support biological males playing in women’s sports. I was proud to stand with the University of Nevada at Reno’s women’s volleyball team on Tuesday evening as they came out and stand in a courageous act to defend their ability to have a a fair and safe and private locker rooms for their own sake. It’s sad to me when these young women are having to take a courageous stand and our politicians can’t even say that they have enough expertise to be able to weigh in on this issue. It’s shameful. ”

Rosen responded, “Well, we do have governing bodies. We have coaches, parents, and leagues, and they make all the decisions for sporting events. So, I think we should leave the decisions to the experts who make them, not to politicians. I actually, I fully support that all athletes should have a fair competition and a level playing field and allow the governing bodies that we have now, like the NCAA, and others, depending on where you’re competing, to make those rules and set those parameters.”

The moderators quickly moved on, without pressing Rosen’s six-year record of fighting for “equality.” Later on in the debate, Rosen stated, “We must protect women” when she was asked about abortion. WATCH:

For background, in 2022, Rosen was joined by democratic colleague Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto to encourage the passage of the Nevada ERA and enshrine transgender rights into the state constitution. They sold the bill as a durable protection against gender discrimination, specifically for women and girls. The amendment passed in November 2022 with 580,000 votes.

In 2023, Senator Rosen championed Nevada’s Equal Rights Amendment as a  cosponsor of the Equality Act, federal legislation that would guarantee civil protections for transgender individuals, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, jury service, public accommodations, and the use of federal funds.

Senator Rosen has stated that “she will not stop working until the Equality Act becomes the law of the land.”

The Globe spoke to Executive Director Athar Haseebullah of the ACLU NV to better understand UNR’s actions and the related and future liability of the Nevada ERA. Haseebullah told The Globe, “There is no liability on the university’s end in this situation because nobody was precluded from accessing a sport at the University. If [President Brian Sandoval] imposed a policy banning transgender athletes from participating in sports, that is where the liability would be invoked under the ERA.”

Taking to social media, Hasbeebullah promised a “pathway to bankruptcy” should any government agency “discriminate against trans students.”

Yet, what about the rights of female students and the durable protection against discrimination against women and girls that was promised by Senators Rosen and Cortez Masto? This question was absent during last night’s debate, to the benefit of Senator Rosen and the Democratic party at large.

The Globe reached out to Senator Rosen for comment on the ERA and equality act, but our emails have gone unanswered.