Anti-Trans Activists Went to Women’s Sports Events in Portland. They Were Shown the Door

On Saturday, September 5, supporters of the brand XX-XY Athletics were asked to leave a National Women’s Soccer League game between the Portland Thorns and the Washington Spirit at Portland’s Providence Park after donning apparel that displayed the brand’s logo.The brand, which espouses the idea that participation in sports should be restricted on the “basis of sex,” claims that they want to “protect women’s sports and spaces,” per their website — a common dog whistle used by anti-transgender groups to protest trans inclusion in women’s sports. In addition to equating gender with chromosomes, the brand also uses a slogan that negates intersex identities, which often expand beyond the binary of XX or XY chromosomes.The group was reportedly encouraged to attend the game in the XX-XY shirts in a social media post by the brand, according to one woman from the group, Amy Sousa, who told Portland ABC affiliate KATU that she covered her logo with a scarf except for a photo opportunity. “We've done nothing transphobic,” Sousa said in a video. “We literally brought the code of conduct with us and have followed it to the letter.” Per a Portland Thorns spokesperson, however, the group was “distributing unapproved materials, which violates the stadium’s Fan Experience Guidelines.”In addition to being asked to leave the Thorns v. Spirit game, the group also decided to visit Portland’s The Sports Bra, which according to their Instagram bio, is the “world’s first sports bar that is 100% dedicated to women’s sports.” There, too, the group was asked to leave the premises by Sports Bra staffers who reportedly noted to the group that their shirts were making another patron feel unsafe. After the incident, The Sports Bra took to Instagram to show their support for trans women and girls and their place in athletics. In a pink-and-white graphic featuring an illustration of a sports bra with colors from the transgender flag, the post read, “Ou