A women’s rights group is trying to keep a Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo-led proposed ballot initiative, which would limit transgender female student athletes to school sports based on their sex at birth, off the 2026 ballot.

Lombardo announced last month he would be leading the ballot initiative “to ensure girls’ sports are fair and athletes are safe.” If passed, the measure would amend the Equal Rights Amendment, which Nevada voters passed in 2022, to largely prevent K-12 and college transgender female student athletes from playing in a sport that best aligns with their gender identity. It makes exceptions for female student athletes to play in boys’ or men’s sports when there’s no team for females available. 

However, a complaint filed Jan. 29 claims that the initiative’s description does not comply with state 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.” It was filed by Sue Burtch, the executive director of the Nevada chapter of the National Organization for Women. 

The complaint also questions whether female athletes being injured by transgender athletes or these athletes unfairly winning competitions is a serious and prevalent enough issue that it requires amending the state Constitution. 

“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,” the plaintiff’s memorandum of points and authorities states. “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.” 

The plaintiff is asking the court to declare the initiative invalid, prohibit the secretary of state from placing the petition on the 2026 general election ballot or from taking further action upon it and prohibit the Protect Girls Sports PAC from being able to gather signatures on the petition. 

Burtch’s attorney, Bradley Schrager, said a hearing on the case is scheduled for Feb. 20 in the First Judicial District Court in Carson City. 

The ballot initiative was filed on behalf of the PAC, whose leaders include Lombardo, who will serve as its honorary chair, Assm. Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas), attorney Adriana Guzmán Fralick, who’s running in the Republican primary for Nevada attorney general, and Erica Neely, who is running in a Republican primary for the Assembly seat currently held by Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas). Yeager is not running for re-election.

Ben Kieckhefer, a former state senator who recently served as Lombardo’s chief of staff, is listed as someone who can withdraw or amend the initiative.

“This initiative is about fairness and safety in girls’ sports, nothing more,” Lombardo said in a Wednesday statement. “These efforts are simply an attempt to delay the signature gathering process.”

The Nevada Independent obtained audio where Lombardo can be heard describing the initiative as a necessary part of his re-election strategy that would get voters out to the ballot box in a non-presidential election year. 

It’s not clear how many transgender student athletes, if any, there are in Nevada. However, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, which oversees athletics at more than 120 high schools in the state, and the NCAA have already passed policies that largely limit sports to athletes’ sex assigned at birth.