Yesterday in Portland, a group of 8 people tried to watch some professional women’s soccer. That was apparently too much for the Portland Thorns.
The group went to Providence Park to see the Thorns play the Washington Spirit. The Thorns lost 1-2. The group wore XX-XY Athletics shirts. They covered them with sweatshirts on the way in. But it didn’t matter. They must have looked suspicious (ha).
Security approached the group before kickoff and told them to leave.
When one of the attendees — Amy Sousa (TheKnownHeretic on Substack) — asked why, the answer was that they were “transphobic.” You can tell people’s thoughts just by looking, you see.
The group never saw the kickoff let alone the game. Here’s the notification they received.
Before the game, Amy had already received a message from someone named Hannah Perry — a local LGBT group organizer — announcing that she had alerted the Portland police department, the Portland mayor and the governor of Oregon as well as the Providence Park organization that this group would be there and that they were transphobic.
What crime would be committed in the future, exactly? Bad thoughts? Chromosomes on a T-shirt?
Perry added “I hope that you’re not allowed into the stadium.”
Amy ignored the warning.
“I didn't take it seriously,” Sousa said. “I was like, what are they going to do? Arrest us for watching soccer?”
They weren’t arrested but they were ejected before the game even started. So Hannah got her wish though they were initially allowed in, just not for long.
The group then went to The Sports Bra, the famous Portland bar that advertises itself as being all about women’s sports.
The group ordered food and drinks. They sat down to watch the game. They did not interact with other customers. When the food arrived, a waitress told them they had to leave because they made other patrons uncomfortable.
The bar has taken investment from Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams’ husband and Reddit co-founder, through his 776 Foundation. It has also received investment from the owner of the Atlanta Dream and former WNBA champion Renee Montgomery.
The Sports Bra is owned by Jenny Nguyen. On her LinkedIn she states:
“When I opened The Sports Bra, I had no idea how many people out there needed a place like this as much as I did. A space dedicated to women’s sports. A place where inclusion, fandom, and community come together. What started as a dream in Portland has grown into a movement. We’re excited to expand The Sports Bra and bring our mission to more cities.”
The bar has announced franchise locations in four new cities — Boston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas and St. Louis.
After the video at the bar went viral, The Sports Bra released a statement standing by the ejection and declaring that trans women are women.
I was not in Portland. I was in Denver, watching the Summit host first-place NY/NJ Gotham. Summit is in 10th place in the league and outside the playoff picture. Gotham is the defending champion and the league’s best team.
The Summit won 3-0 in a packed temporary stadium that holds 12,000. It was loud and it was a ton of fun.
I have now been to three WNBA games and one NWSL game.
Though we were left alone (outside of sneers and glares), the soccer crowd felt much more hostile to a save-women’s-sports point of view than the basketball crowds I’ve experienced. We wore our XX-XY shirts. No one bothered us. They just looked at us with disdain, which we ignored.
A very large number of people wore “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” shirts from Togethxr, the brand started by Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe’s ex. That slogan is “ally” coded. It means trans women are women, without saying exactly that.
Here’s the thing: in America, soccer’s following is largely white liberals. At least 60% of the fanbase is white and they tend to be centered in places like California and the Pacific Northwest. Yes, there is a considerable Hispanic fanbase and the US Men’s National Team and the MLS (pro league) claim diversity. But it’s kind of not really so diverse. Not yet, anyway.
NWSL crowds look like they are made up almost exclusively of white liberal women. Yes, I’m saying this from attending one game in one liberal city — Denver. So take it with a grain of salt, if you wish.
But WNBA crowds are different. You see basketball fans from every background. You see Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham jerseys which have sort of become “conservative coded” — at least the Sophie ones are for sure. You may end up sitting with midwest “normies” who don’t make their politics their whole personality, like I did in Minneapolis. In Chicago I sat next to a black couple who seemed unaware of the ideological war being waged over the W in WNBA or why anyone was booing Sophie. He was there for the basketball. The woman said she was there, tagging along, for the snacks. They were friendly. We chatted and she shared her cookies. They took zero offense at my XX-XY tee.
The NWSL seemed to be a whole different ball game. Almost exclusively white. Very female, I’d estimate 90%. Very much about their leftie identity being the only decent way to operate in the world, if their tees had anything to say about it. Look, I had a statement tee on too. Not criticizing the fact of doing that. Just commenting that we had no allies. Zero.
The NWSL regular season ends November 1. The playoffs run through November 21. There is ample evidence that males are already playing in this league. Barbra Banda of the Orlando Pride, once the highest-paid player in the NWSL, is from Zambia. In 2022, Confederation of African Football (CAF) ruled her ineligible for Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) because her testosterone level exceeded their thresholds.
FIFA later cleared her. She captained Zambia at the Olympics and the World Cup.
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will sex-test athletes in women’s divisions. We will find out then. Other players who have faced CAF challenges due to testosterone rules include Racheal Kundananji of Bay FC and Prisca Chilufya of Angel City.
Until then I will keep going to games. Amy Sousa will be there too. We will wear the shirts. The people who run women’s soccer in Portland can eject us from the stadium and from the bar that claims to exist for women. But I guess not women who call themselves feminists and advocate for sex realism.
The censors cannot make the facts disappear. Biological sex is not a thought crime. And women are not a costume that any man can just don on a whim. And a league that pretends otherwise is not protecting women. It is erasing them.
It's kinda funny how 10 minutes ago cultural appropriation for a fun halloween costume was really bad, but sex appropriation on a semi-permanent basis is heroic.
Keep up the pressure on Serena and Alexis Ohanian. They have two daughters. Incredible how ideology has consumed them, money and trophies can’t buy courage and common sense.