The Portland chapter of the Womenâs March on Washington has faced organizational challenges since its inception, though it seemed most had been resolved when a new leadership team took over mere weeks before the cityâs massive January 21 march.
Now it looks like the group is in trouble again. As the Oregonian reported last Friday, lead organizer Margaret Jacobsen recently released a statement on Facebook saying that the organization could not account for $22,000 that had been donated to the march through PDX Trans Pride, the eventâs fiscal sponsor and an apparent nonprofit run by Rebekah âKattâ Brewis. Jacobsen says the funds were never transferred back to the Womenâs March organizers, and also raised concerns that Brewis had represented PDX Trans Pride as an advocacy group while appearing to be its only member.
A statement posted to the PDX Trans Pride Facebook page disputed Jacobsenâs claims, and, in an apparent attempt to weaken Jacobsen and fellow organizersâ credibility, called them âjoblessâ and accused them of âtransphobia.â
PDX Trans Pride is listed on the Oregon Secretary of Stateâs database of active nonprofits, but the only names associated with it are two variants of Brewisâ nameââRebekah Katherine Brewisâ and âKatherine Rebekah Brewisââand Stephanie Rose Anderson, who is listed as the organizationâs secretary. Other local trans activists and organizations have since disavowed Brewisâ organization publicly on social media.
Jacobsen declined to comment further on the matter, citing legal concerns.