Portland Thorns and a Local Bar Both Ejected Fans Wearing 'Save Women's Sports' Shirts, Sides Dispute Why

Eight fans were removed from Providence Park during the Portland Thorns' Sept. 6 match against the Washington Spirit. Hours later, some of the same group got kicked out of a Portland bar too. Both sides agree on almost nothing else.

A Portland Thorns spokesperson told OutKick the group was ejected for "distributing unapproved materials," which the club says violates its Fan Experience Guidelines. "Our priority remains fostering a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for every fan at Providence Park," the spokesperson said, adding the matter is still under investigation.

Amy Sousa, who organized the group's attendance, says that's false. "We did not distribute any materials. We came armed with copies of their own code of conduct and we followed it to the letter," Sousa told OutKick. "They are lying about us. They have violated our rights."

Sousa says she brought five printed copies of the NWSL and Providence Park codes of conduct after a local activist, Hannah Perry, warned her she planned to contact officials about the group's attendance. Sousa says the copies were only shown within her own seated group, never handed to other fans. "If we 'distributed' anything, they would have it on video," she said.

Video of the confrontation, reviewed by KATU, captures a person who appears to be affiliated with the stadium telling the group he'd been made aware of something "transphobic" and that someone had been "giving out information." The rest of that exchange isn't audible on the recording provided to the station. Sousa says she doesn't know what conduct he was referring to.

Sousa and others in the group wore XX-XY Athletics apparel and shirts reading "Save Women's Sports," "Woman," "It's common sense" and "Girls just wanna have fundamental rights." XX-XY Athletics is a clothing brand founded by Jennifer Sey that advocates for sports categories based on biological sex. Sousa said her XX-XY logo was covered by a scarf for most of the match, except when she took a photo of herself.

Staff handed the group written notices citing a Providence Park and NWSL code-of-conduct violation, according to WLT Report, which also said management had 72 hours to follow up about possible additional penalties, including a ban from future events.

The publicly available NWSL Fan Code of Conduct bars signage or clothing used for "electioneering, campaigning, or advocacy for or against a political party, candidate or legislation," per WLT Report's review of the document. That language covers political campaigning. It does not spell out how a stadium is supposed to classify a T-shirt that says "Woman."

WLT Report also reported that an organizer contacted Portland police, Mayor Keith Wilson, Gov. Tina Kotek and stadium management before the game and asked that the group be removed. Providence Park, the Thorns and the NWSL did not respond to that outlet's requests for comment before publication. None of the officials named have publicly confirmed contact or involvement.

The dispute didn't end at the stadium. After the game, several members of the group went to The Sports Bra, a Portland bar built around broadcasting women's sports, and were asked to leave there too. A staff member, captured on video by Sousa, said, "There are people here that are in here who are uncomfortable with those shirts, so I am asking y'all to leave," according to Essentially Sports.

The bar later posted a statement on Instagram standing by the decision. "Trans girls are girls and trans women are women," the post read, adding the bar does "not tolerate messages or conduct that demean or exclude the very community we exist to serve and celebrate."

Jennifer Sey pushed back publicly, writing on X that "none of these guests even interacted with other customers. They just wanted to watch the Thorns game."

The bar's position deserves a fair hearing. A private business has the right to set its own standards for what it considers welcoming to its customer base, and staff said other patrons complained the shirts made them uncomfortable. Whether discomfort at a slogan justifies ejection from a business open to the public is a judgment call, not a settled legal question, and no lawsuit or formal complaint has been filed by either side as of this writing.

At the stadium, the factual dispute is narrower and more provable: did the group hand out materials to other fans, or didn't they? Sousa says no video shows it happening. The Thorns say the investigation is ongoing and haven't released footage backing their claim. Until that investigation concludes and the club explains what "unapproved materials" it says were distributed, the two accounts remain in direct contradiction. As of Monday evening, Sept. 7, the club's stated 72-hour review window had not yet elapsed, since the incident took place the previous day.