Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, R-Las Vegas, said on Nevada Newsmakers that Democrats in the Nevada Legislature killed three of his bills mostly because they oppose his Task Force on Women's Sports that aims to keep biological males out of women's sports at the high school and collegiate levels.
"I know for a fact that a lot of it had to do with my stance on protecting female athletes, but also it had, obviously, to do with I'm a Republican," Anthony told host Sam Shad.
Anthony, who also announced he will be running for re-election, was highly critical of two Democrats from Las Vegas -- Assembly Education Committee chair Selena Torres-Fossett and State Sen. Melanie Scheible -- in the interview that was broadcast last Friday.
Both Democrats suggested in earlier interviews on Nevada Newsmakers that Anthony should stay focused on the official duties of his office -- promoting small business and tourism -- instead of his crusade on women's sports.
"They have said it (women's sports) is none of my business and I should stay out of it," Anthony said. "I guess my question is, I didn't know I was supposed to check with those two legislators on what I should do as lieutenant governor.
"I'm the lieutenant governor," Anthony continued. "I'll do whatever I see fit for the state of Nevada. So I didn't know I was supposed to check with them first."
Anthony said Torres-Fossett was the Democrats' leader in killing the bill for his Office of Small Business Advocacy, which was only funded for two years in the 2023 Legislature.
Anthony called it "retaliation."
"So on one side, she says, support small businesses," Anthony said, referring to an established duty of his office that Torres-Fossett had mentioned. "On the other side, she kills the office in my office that supports small businesses. That's the retaliation that is occurring by the Democrat Party."
Democrats hold strong majorities in both houses, which gives them control and clout in the legislative process where bills become laws.
Anthony was also critical of Democrats for killing his SB 55, which sought to start an agriculture/tourism model for Nevada. Anthony said Nevada is one of 11 states that does not currently have an agri-tourism program.
"The Democrats killed that bill specifically because of my stance on female athletes," Anthony said. "That's the reason why they killed it. I know that for a fact."
It was a move that hurt rural Nevada, Anthony said.
"It is terrible that the Democrat Party legislators would throw ranchers and farmers under the bus because of my stance on protecting female athletes," he said.
"This (agri-tourism) is something that was nonpartisan," Anthony continued. "It helped ranchers with tourism. Our No. 1 industry in Nevada is tourism."
Anthony mentioned his third bill done in by Democrats.
"This had to do with my chairmanship of the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Board," Anthony said. "It would make it mandatory that every kid in school had 20 minutes of outdoor recreation during the school day. I thought this was completely bipartisan.
"The Democrats killed it," he said.
Both Republican bills that would have banned biological males from women's sports in Nevada -- a Senate version and Assembly version -- also failed to get first-committee passage last week and were deemed dead by legislative rules.
Concern for LGBTQ+ community
Shad asked Anthony if his zeal to ban biological males from women's sports could possibly lead to violence or discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Anthony responded:
"You know, that comes up all the time. And if anybody looks at the history of my involvement in protecting female athletes, if anybody looks at the history of my task force, working to protect female athletes, we never talk about transgender.
"We don't care about that," Anthony continued. "We're not involved in that. If an adult wants to ... transgender, that's none of my business. This is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I mean, if the people want to do that, that's fine. We have not gotten involved in that issue.
"Again, our focus is on biological men wanting to play in women's sports," Anthony said. "That's it. We have had rallies trying to ban biological men from playing in women's sports because it's not fair. It's not right and it's not safe."
Anthony said his task force is not against transgender people.
"If somebody showed up at one of my rallies and said, 'Let's ban transgender people, let's attack transgender people,' they would be forcefully removed from that rally," he said. "This is not what we're about. And that's what people seem to use to want to muddy the water a little bit."
Anthony said he does not know how many biological males are currently playing girls high school sports in Nevada.
The head of the NCAA, the governing body for most of the intercollegiate athletic programs, said that out of 500,000 collegiate athletes in the NCAA, less than 10 are probably transgender.
"You know, it's hard to say how many there are, because nobody's keeping track of it," Anthony said.
"So, who knows what the number is?" Anthony said. "But it doesn't matter if it happens one time, that is an absolute shame. And that's really what we're trying to stop."
Anthony noted that the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, which oversees high school sports in Nevada, recently banned biological males from competing in girls sports.
The NIAA ban came after President Trump issued an executive order banning biological males form women's sports. The order threatened to withhold federal funds from institutions that do not follow the policy.
"My task force really should take credit for that, because we went to several public comments (sessions) during their meetings asking them to do that," Anthony said about the NIAA ban.
Debate challenge
Anthony also challenged Torres-Fossett to a debate on Nevada Newsmakers.
"If Assemblywoman Fossett wants to come on this show with me and debate why biological men should be, or should not be in women's sports, I'd be happy to debate her here," Anthony said.
"If you want to call her and book the show, I will be here with her," Anthony said. "She can bring three or four other people. I'll come here by myself, because I know that I'm standing on firm ground when it comes to protecting female athletes."
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