PORTLAND—Providence Park Stadium security escorted Seattle journalist Brandi Kruse and others from a Portland Thorns FC match Friday night after the group wore shirts from XX-XY Athletics, a brand that maintains women’s sports should be limited to biological females.
In video posted by Kruse, a female security guard can be seen restraining and twisting her arm, pinning it against her back, then pushing her out through the stands. The female security guard is then joined by a male security guard who guides her through the stands and out of Providence Park.
Kruse is then lifted by the two security officers and dragged out of the stadium.
Kruse can be heard saying she has not done anything wrong and told the security guards they should be “fucking ashamed of yourselves.”
Kruse, host of the commentary show Undivided, said the group had been assaulted by other fans yet remained peaceful, and that spectators wearing different messages or engaging in chants were not removed.
XX-XY Athletics, founded by former Levi’s executive Jennifer Sey, markets the view that sex-based categories in sports should remain intact. The episode follows a September incident at the same stadium in which a separate group wearing similar apparel was ejected.
“Seems the only shirts not allowed in women’s professional sports leagues today are ones that stand up for women,” XX-XY Athletics released in a statement.
The Portland Thorns said those fans had distributed unapproved materials in violation of fan guidelines, a claim the group denied. League and venue rules generally prohibit discriminatory language or political advocacy displays, though enforcement has drawn criticism amid the wider debate over transgender participation in women’s sports.
Kruse has been a leading voice in Washington state for preserving girls’ and women’s sports for biological females. She has publicly backed Initiative 638 (I-638), the November 2026 ballot measure that would bar biologically male students from competing in female-designated school sports.
Kruse has interviewed female athletes and parents, spoken at rallies, and urged voters to support the measure, describing it as a defense of Title IX fairness and opportunities for the roughly 110,000 girls in Washington middle- and high-school sports.
She has emphasized that her advocacy is independent, stating she has received no payments from Let’s Go Washington (the group behind the initiative) and has used her own resources for travel and events. A related campaign-finance complaint against her was recently dismissed by the state Public Disclosure Commission.
The Portland Thorns did go on the defeat the North Carolina Courage 1-0.
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Author: Mario Lotmore
