Nevada has become the latest state to roll back protections for transgender students in athletics, after the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) voted nearly unanimously to reverse a 2014 policy that had allowed transgender high school students to participate in sports aligning with their gender identity.
The new policy, approved during the NIAA’s spring Board of Control meeting on Tuesday, now restricts student-athletes to teams that match the sex listed on their “unaltered original birth certificate.” The vote passed 8-0, with three members abstaining, and an emergency meeting has been scheduled for May to determine how the policy will be enforced.
The decision comes in the wake of a controversial executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, which threatens to pull federal funding from schools and organizations that do not comply. While this order has been challenged on legal and constitutional grounds, it has already triggered policy shifts in several states.
The NIAA’s legal counsel, Paul Anderson, defended the change, stating that the policy “does not discriminate against anybody.” However, he emphasized that the shift was necessary to maintain compliance with what he described as “federal law.” Critics, including civil rights advocates and members of the transgender community, say otherwise.
“This is discriminatory on its face,” said Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada. “Gender identity and expression were specifically protected under the Equal Rights Amendment passed by Nevada voters in 2022. This policy directly contradicts those protections.”
Despite the policy’s sweeping impact, the NIAA has acknowledged that it does not track how many transgender students currently participate in high school athletics. Nationally, NCAA President Charlie Baker has noted that only around ten transgender athletes are competing at the collegiate level. In Nevada, there is no data suggesting that transgender athletes have caused harm or disadvantage to cisgender athletes.
Nevertheless, the NIAA board heard emotional testimony from several cisgender female athletes who expressed fear and discomfort about competing against transgender peers. But transgender advocates argue that the new policy is more about political pressure than student welfare.
Brooke Maylath, a prominent Nevada advocate for transgender rights, said the previous policy had been a lifeline for students navigating the challenges of adolescence. “It worked. It gave trans youth a chance to belong. That’s what sports are supposed to be about—teamwork, acceptance, perseverance,” she said.
Under the updated rules, students must submit a physical evaluation form that includes a doctor’s verification of their birth sex. Schools must ensure that students only participate on teams aligned with that designation, and “sex” is explicitly defined as excluding gender identity. This requirement could pose challenges for undocumented students or those without access to their original birth certificates, as several board members noted.
“I guarantee you that schools like mine will have half the athletes next school year if this is the decision we make,” said Colin McNaught, principal at Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas, who abstained from the vote. McNaught also voiced concerns about the policy’s impact on undocumented youth and the logistical burden it places on school administrators.
Even some who voted in favor of the policy expressed unease. Keith Wipperman, principal at Centennial High School, acknowledged that schools with large Hispanic populations might face difficulty obtaining the necessary documents. “There are still a lot of details I am concerned about… From a practicality standpoint of living in this world, there are some large concerns that I don’t know how we are going to answer, even in May.”
The emergency May meeting will seek to clarify enforcement mechanisms, including what qualifies as a valid birth certificate and how schools should navigate cases where documentation is unavailable.
Opponents of the change have also pointed to the Nevada Equal Rights Amendment as a potential legal avenue for challenge. The ERA explicitly prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, making the NIAA’s reversal a likely target for litigation.
While Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony and conservative lawmakers hailed the vote as a victory for women’s sports, many transgender students and their families are left feeling erased and targeted.
“This isn’t about fairness,” said Maylath. “It’s about fear. It’s about sidelining kids who already face so many hurdles—just for trying to live as their authentic selves.”
For now, the future remains uncertain for trans student-athletes in Nevada. But one thing is clear: the conversation isn’t over. In the coming weeks, advocates, allies, and affected families will be watching closely—and speaking out.
