Amy Sousa wore an XX-XY Athletics shirt to a women's soccer game in Portland on October 23. She left Providence Park with bruises from being struck with flag poles and manhandled by stadium staffers. The people who hit her got to stay in their seats.
The U.S. Department of Justice is now reviewing the incident.
Here's what happened. Approximately 20 spectators attending a Portland Thorns vs. North Carolina Courage match at Providence Park displayed a "Save Women's Sports" banner and wore shirts from XX-XY Athletics, a brand that advocates for biological sex categories in athletics. Fans carrying transgender flags struck the group with their flag poles. Reporters covering the event were assaulted too. One had his phone knocked from his hand, another got beer poured down his neck, and another had his press credential physically yanked from around his neck.
Then stadium security, directed by Providence Park security director Jim McCausland, removed the women's sports supporters from the venue. Not the people swinging flag poles. The people who got hit.
"We were attacked by fans. We were hit with flags," Sousa said.
The DOJ's response came within 48 hours. A spokesperson told OutKick, "The Justice Department is aware of these reports and will review the matter thoroughly. Where the facts and the law warrant action, the Department will not hesitate to act." A DOJ official added that "the conduct described appears to raise viewpoint discrimination and First Amendment questions rather than sex discrimination."
That distinction matters. Providence Park is owned by the City of Portland. When a government-owned facility ejects paying customers for expressing a political viewpoint while allowing the people who physically assaulted them to remain, you're not in the territory of a private business making its own rules. You're in First Amendment territory. The DOJ appears to agree.
Portland Police Bureau Sergeant Kevin Allen confirmed that off-duty PPB officers working the game "were not involved in any removals." Allen stated that officers "did separate two groups with opposing viewpoints for a short time" and confirmed two case numbers were opened. Per Allen, "No immediate arrests were made or citations issued. The incidents are under investigation."
So the sequence runs like this: women's sports supporters enter a publicly owned stadium. They display a legal message on legal apparel. They get struck with flag poles. Stadium security removes them. Police separate the two groups but arrest nobody. And two days later, the DOJ is asking questions about viewpoint discrimination.
The stadium is operated by Peregrine Sports, LLC. The Thorns are owned by RAJ Sports. Neither entity has explained why the victims of an assault were treated as the problem while the perpetrators kept their seats. The security director who oversaw the removals, McCausland, hasn't addressed why a "Save Women's Sports" banner warranted ejection from a women's sports event.
Portland has spent years positioning itself as a city that protects transgender voices. A city-owned stadium just ejected women for saying women's sports should be for women — at a women's sporting event — after those women were physically attacked for saying it.