Portland women’s sports bar clash draws police after ‘XX-XY’ shirt dispute

Two crowds faced off outside a Portland bar dedicated to women’s sports last week, prompting a police response, after the venue had ejected a group of patrons days earlier for wearing shirts from a brand that advocates organizing women’s sports on the basis of sex rather than gender identity.

About seven demonstrators gathered across the street from The Sports Bra in Northeast Portland around 5:40 p.m. on Sept. 11 to protest the bar’s decision, and more than 30 counterprotesters — including members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization — showed up in response, according to KPTV. The two sides traded chants along Northeast Broadway before the confrontation moved into a nearby parking lot.

Transgender rights activists accused conservative livestreamer Thomas Allen and people with him of spraying a chemical irritant at demonstrators and entering a nearby grocery store while carrying weapons, KPTV reported. Police did not substantiate those claims sufficiently to make an arrest. The Portland Police Bureau said officers arrived around 5:45 p.m., directed both groups away from traffic and monitored the scene until it dispersed; they reviewed two complaints about irritant spray but cited insufficient probable cause and reported no injuries.

The confrontation traces back to Sept. 6, when staff at The Sports Bra asked a group of patrons wearing shirts from XX-XY Athletics to cover the apparel or leave, according to the bar’s account. Amy Sousa, one of the patrons, said a staff member told her group that “our shirts were making someone feel unsafe,” according to KATU.

The same day, Sousa and seven others in the group were removed from a Portland Thorns match against the Washington Spirit at Providence Park. The team said the group was ejected for distributing unapproved materials in violation of the stadium’s fan conduct policy. Sousa alleged the ejection was politically motivated, telling OutKick that “they are lying about us” and that she and her group were “targeted for political beliefs.”

The Sports Bra reaffirmed its stance after the Sept. 11 protest, saying that while it welcomes public debate, it does not tolerate conduct that excludes or demeans others inside the establishment, according to Daily Tidings. The bar had laid out its position in more detail in a Sept. 8 statement supporting transgender women’s and girls’ participation in women’s sports.

Activists who joined the Sept. 11 counterprotest criticized police for making no arrests despite the irritant-spray complaints, arguing officers failed to intervene while confrontations were underway.