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A group wearing trans-exclusionary messaging turned up at two women’s sports spaces in Portland. The response? Very much: not today, babes.
There are many ways to spend a Sunday in Portland. Brunch. Coffee. Women’s football. Perhaps a cheeky pint afterwards.
Turning up in clothing associated with a campaign against trans inclusion in women’s sport and expecting everyone around you to simply go along with it? Apparently, that one comes with complications.
On 6 September, a group wearing apparel from XX-XY Athletics, a brand that campaigns for participation in women’s sport to be determined on the basis of sex, attended a Portland Thorns match against the Washington Spirit at Providence Park.
Eight members of the group were eventually removed from the stadium.
Later, some of them headed to The Sports Bra, Portland’s women’s sports bar.
They were asked to leave there too.
Darling, at some point you have to read the room.
What happened at the Portland Thorns match?
The group attended the National Women’s Soccer League match wearing XX-XY Athletics clothing alongside slogans associated with campaigns opposing the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sport.
According to reports, stadium staff approached the group and eventually escorted eight people from Providence Park.
There is, however, an important distinction in the accounts of what happened.
A Portland Thorns spokesperson said the individuals were removed for distributing unapproved materials, which the club said breached its Fan Experience Guidelines. The club also said the incident was being reviewed.
Members of the group dispute that version of events and say they were not distributing materials.
So, no, we are not going to pretend that part is completely settled just because a cleaner story makes a better headline. Facts first, babes.
What is clear is that the confrontation centred around a group publicly associated with messaging opposing trans inclusion in women’s sport — in a stadium whose stated priority is providing a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for its fans.
And the afternoon was not over yet.
Then they went to The Sports Bra
Some members of the group later visited The Sports Bra, the Portland venue created specifically around women’s sport.
If the name sounds familiar, there is a reason.
The Sports Bra describes itself as the world’s first sports bar dedicated exclusively to showing women’s sports. It has also built its identity around creating a welcoming space for women, girls and members of the LGBTQ+ community who may not feel comfortable in traditional sports-bar environments.
This is where things became rather less ambiguous.
According to The Sports Bra, guests entered the venue wearing what the business described as trans-exclusionary messaging.
Staff asked them to cover the messaging or leave.
They did not cover it.
They left.
Sometimes boundaries really can be that simple.
The Sports Bra made its position crystal clear
After video of the confrontation circulated online, The Sports Bra issued a public statement on 8 September explaining its decision.
And frankly, there was very little room for interpretation.
“To be completely clear, the ‘T’ stands for Trans.”
The venue said trans girls and trans women athletes, fans and their allies would continue to be welcomed and supported.
It also said members of its team had subsequently faced online attacks, hateful messages, negative reviews and attempts to provoke further confrontation.
Its response?
It would not be intimidated into abandoning its commitment to inclusion.
No corporate word salad. No desperate attempt to please absolutely everyone. No “both sides have valid feelings” paragraph tucked somewhere near the bottom.
Just: this is our space, these are our values, and trans people are part of our community.
Rather refreshing, actually.
Women’s sport has become a battleground for trans rights
The confrontation comes as transgender participation in sport remains one of the most aggressively contested LGBTQ+ issues in the United States and beyond.
Politicians, campaign groups, sports organisations and governing bodies continue to debate rules around eligibility, fairness and inclusion — often with transgender athletes placed directly at the centre of a culture war they did not ask to create.
There are legitimate policy discussions to be had about how different sports establish categories and eligibility rules.
But there is also a difference between having that discussion and turning the existence of trans women into a permanent public spectacle.
That distinction matters.
Because transgender people are not simply a debate topic.
They are the person sitting next to you at the match. The woman watching football with her mates. The bartender pouring your drink. The supporter celebrating a goal. The athlete who just wants to compete.
In other words: part of the community.
And this is the bit we rather love
There is something significant about what happened at The Sports Bra that goes beyond one group, one bar or one viral video.
The response did not come from a government.
It did not require a Supreme Court judgment.
There was no parliamentary debate and no 200-page policy consultation.
A community space simply decided what sort of environment it wanted to create — and then defended it.
That matters at a time when LGBTQ+ people, and trans people in particular, are watching rights and protections become the subject of relentless political fights across several countries.
Sometimes solidarity looks like marching through the streets with thousands of people.
Sometimes it looks like challenging discriminatory legislation.
And sometimes solidarity is considerably less dramatic:
“Those messages are making members of our community uncomfortable. Cover them or leave.”
That is not exactly Stonewall.
But we’ll take it.
Not every provocation needs to become the main character
There is another lesson here too.
Much of modern culture-war politics runs on attention.
Create confrontation. Film confrontation. Upload confrontation. Wait for outrage. Repeat.
The algorithm eats, everyone gets furious and somehow LGBTQ+ people end up spending another 48 hours defending their right to exist underneath a video posted by somebody who very much wanted everyone to argue about it.
Exhausting.
Perhaps occasionally the answer can be simpler.
You are allowed to have your beliefs.
Other people are allowed to make clear that those beliefs do not define their community.
And businesses are allowed to decide what sort of environment they want to provide for the people they serve, within the law.
The Sports Bra has made its position rather obvious.
The clue, apparently, is right there in its statement:
The T still stands for Trans.
And if you’re looking for a venue where trans women are treated as an inconvenient footnote to women’s sport?
Well.
The exit’s that way, babes.
P.S. yes, the feature image is AI generated.
