A Las Vegas resident has gone viral after confronting a mother who wore a transphobic T-shirt to a local school board meeting. The T-shirt worn by Lorena Biassotti featured the words “XX-XY”, a reference to sex chromosomes. Anti-trans activists claim that sex chromosomes only come in these two forms (which is not true) and that they should determine a person’s gender. XX-XY Athletics is a clothing brand that opposes the recognition of transgender people. The brand has also spoken out against transgender women participating in women’s sports. 

Amanda Nuchols, a Las Vegas resident, directly addressed Biassotti during the meeting. According to Nuchols, a school board member wearing the T-shirt sends a harmful message to transgender and non-binary pupils. 

“Transgender and non-binary young people look to school board members for protection, stability and basic respect,” Nuchols said during her speech. She argued that it is therefore irresponsible for a board member to promote a message targeting transgender young people during a meeting about education and pupil wellbeing. 

Biassotti has served on the Clark County School District school board since 2024, one of the largest school districts in the United States. Before that, she was active in the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative organisation that, among other things, opposes LGBTQIA+ issues in education. During her election campaign, Biassotti advocated, among other things, for removing books that mention LGBTQIA+ people. 

Biassotti has also previously made controversial comments about transgender people. During a meeting in 2023, she compared being transgender to paedophilia. A petition was subsequently launched against her over repeated derogatory comments about transgender pupils. Biassotti has also referred to trans girls as “boys pretending to be girls”. 

After the meeting, Biassotti defended her clothing on social media. She wrote that the T-shirt was intended to protect women and women’s sport. She also described the people criticising her as “vile” and “disgusting”. 

The confrontation once again highlights how transgender rights have become part of the political debate surrounding schools in the United States. School boards play an important role in that debate because they make decisions about policies that directly affect pupils.