The Thorns owe women an apology for ejecting XX-XY supporters

The Portland Thorns owe Brandi Kruse and the women who stood with her an apology. OutKick reported that on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, security escorted Brandi Kruse, host of Undivided, and around 20 “Save Women’s Sports” supporters wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts out of the Portland Thorns’ match against the North Carolina Courage at Providence Park. The club's schedule billed the match as "Fan Appreciation" night¹.

Kruse wrote that the group was forced to leave²; OutKick reported that the group kept its shirts covered through the first half, then revealed them and unfurled a “Save Women’s Sports” banner at the start of the second half¹. Fan appreciation for whom?

Supporters reporting flagpole strikes were removed

Members of the group say they were then struck with flagpoles carrying trans flags, and security escorted the group out. Ari Laureano, who has detransitioned, told OutKick he was smashed in the face by a flagpole just after he unbuttoned his coat to show his XX-XY shirt. About half a dozen supporters had already left before the banner went up, fearing for their safety after they saw spectators in "Protect Trans Kids" shirts printed with images of knives¹.

Kruse asked security the obvious question: "If you want all of us to leave that's another thing, but just us?" A guard answered by pinning her right arm behind her back and walking her out of the stadium. Amy Sousa, another XX-XY supporter at the match, told OutKick that attendees filed police reports and said: "We had an ADA woman in a walker, she was forcibly pushed out the door¹." By Kruse's account, the fans chanting and waving other messages were not removed³.

A September removal preceded Friday’s

Providence Park has done this before. A separate group wearing similar apparel was ejected from the same stadium in September³. In video Sousa recorded at the Sept. 6 match, a man who appeared to work for the stadium said he had been made aware of something "transphobic" and that someone had been "giving out information⁴."

The Thorns said the group was removed for "distributing unapproved materials, a violation of the Fan Experience Guidelines at the stadium. We are reviewing the incident." Sousa answered: "We literally brought the code of conduct with us and have followed it to the letter⁴." Seven weeks after the club said it was reviewing the September removal, its security removed a larger group. After Friday's removal, the Thorns' communications director did not respond to OutKick, and security director Jim McCausland said he did not have time to talk¹.

Girls need a protected women’s category

The shirts carry a simple message, in Sousa's words: "There's two sexes; there's men and there's women⁴." That biological reality is on the ballot. Washington and Colorado vote Nov. 3 on measures that tie school sports to biological sex: Washington's covers K-12 athletics, and Colorado's extends to college¹. Kruse backs Washington's Initiative 638, which would bar biologically male students from female-designated school sports, and says it protects roughly 110,000 girls in the state's middle- and high-school sports³.

XX-XY Athletics said it plainly: "Seems the only shirts not allowed in women's professional sports leagues today are ones that stand up for women³."

"Not Europe. This is happening in AMERICA. Wake up, people," Riley Gaines wrote, calling Kruse a hero⁵. If a grown woman can be marched out of a women's league match for that message, what will a 14-year-old girl risk when she speaks up for her own team?

The Thorns and NWSL owe answers

The NWSL's fan code bars "threatening, abusive, or discriminatory words, signs, symbols, or actions based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity⁴." A flagpole to a man's face fits that rule. A shirt reading XX-XY does not.

The Thorns and the NWSL should answer four questions. Will the Thorns apologize to the women they removed, yes or no? Did security remove anyone who swung a flagpole, yes or no? Does a shirt saying women's sports are for women violate the fan code, yes or no? Will the NWSL adopt a rule keeping male-born players out of its women's league, yes or no? Washington and Colorado voters give their own answer on Nov. 3.

Sources

1. 'Save Women’s Sports' activists ejected from NWSL match after being struck, confronted by pro-trans crowd | OutKick
2. @BrandiKruse on X, 2026-10-24: I was just forcefully removed from a @ThornsFC game for the crime of wearing an @xx_xyathletics t-shirt. I am in shock. We peacefully wore our shirts. We were assaulted by fans. Then WE were forced to leave – with FORCE by stadium security. I am utterly in sh, 2026-10-24
3. Brandi Kruse forcibly escorted from Portland Thorns game over XX-XY Athletics shirt - Lynnwood Times
4. Group wearing 'XX-XY' shirts kicked out of Portland Thorns match, sports bar
5. @Riley_Gaines_ on X, 2026-10-24: Not Europe. This is happening in AMERICA. Wake up, people. Hero @BrandiKruse, 2026-10-24