A group of customers was asked to leave The Sports Bra, a Northeast Portland bar known for exclusively showing women’s sports, on Sunday after arriving in XX-XY Athletics apparel, according to video the group shared online.
Five patrons were removed from the Portland sports bar after a server told them other guests had complained about their shirts, according to footage posted by Amy Sousa, one of the women in the group. The video quickly spread on X, drawing more than 6 million views.
In the clip, a server can be heard telling the group they needed to leave because other customers had raised concerns.
“There are people that are in here that are uncomfortable with those shirts, and so I’m asking y’all to leave,” the server said in the video. “If I have to call authorities to get y’all removed, I will, but I don’t want to do that.”
One member of the group objected to the request. “There is nothing wrong with these shirts! What is wrong with these shirts?” the patron said. The server responded that she had already received complaints from other customers.
The bar defended the ejection in an Instagram post Monday. It said the group entered wearing “apparel with messages advocating for the exclusion of trans women from sports” and was given the choice to cover the messaging or leave. “To be clear: trans girls are girls, and trans women are women,” the bar said.
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XX-XY Athletics is a sportswear brand founded by former gymnast Jennifer Sey that says sports should be separated on the basis of biological sex. The name references the chromosomes of women and men.
Hours earlier, the same group was removed from the Portland Thorns’ NWSL match against the Washington Spirit at Providence Park. A Thorns spokesperson told OutKick the fans were removed for “distributing unapproved materials,” a claim Sousa disputes.
“We did not distribute any materials,” Sousa said. “They are lying about us.”
The confrontation follows a similar incident last month, when the WNBA and the Atlanta Dream admitted security was wrong to make a mother and daughter cover XX-XY shirts worn in support of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, whose ESPN comments opposing “biological men” in women’s sports touched off the debate.
The video drew a split reaction online.