The Portland Fire’s July 31 game against the Indiana Fever was already couched in controversy before it even began. In the week or so before the game, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham gained national attention for transphobic comments she made during an interview with ESPN.
When asked about the nickname “MAGA Barbie” given to her by critics, Cunningham told ESPN, “I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that. I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
The comments came despite the fact that the WNBA roster doesn’t include any transgender players.
Before the July 31 game, Fire fans gathered outside the Moda Center to counter-protest a group rallying in support of Cunningham. While both groups were largely peaceful, it was clear they were starkly divided. Ahead of the game, Cunningham addressed her comments and the controversy for the first time.
Cunningham clarified she “had nothing to do with” the group rallying in her defense, but also said, “I still stand by what I’ve said. I’ll never go back on that.”
Edward Niedermeyer attended the game alongside his partner and their friend. He told the Mercury the match was the first of the Fire’s the trio had attended in person, though they’ve been watching games all season. The group were stationed outside of the Moda Center for a bit, with Niedermeyer donning a frog costume and bearing a sign that read, “Trans people just want to live.”
His friend, who does not wish to be identified, wore a black t-shirt that read, “F*ck Transphobia” across the chest in white capital letters. The asterisk is on the shirt.
The trio noticed that venue security, who were monitoring what was going on outside the Moda Center, asked a man carrying a flag that read “Fuck Trump” to leave. Security appeared unable to physically remove the guy, who remained pretty firmly planted. Niedermeyer and his friends also witnessed “people who didn’t have tickets and weren’t there to see the game harassing [other] people.”
The three entered the Moda Center without issue, and enjoyed the first half of the game. They went to grab beers at halftime, and that’s when they say they were approached by venue staff.
Two men told the group they were with the venue’s guest experiences team, which was initially confusing. Niedermeyer said he thought they might have won some kind of prize until the two men clarified the Moda Center was “cracking down on profanity” and that someone had complained about the shirt.
“We were confused,” he said. They realized that the crossbody strap of the friend’s bag made it difficult to see the asterisk, and moved it to show the Moda Center employees the shirt wasn’t vulgar. They headed back to their 302-level seats.
Soon afterward, the group recalls being approached by “six Moda Center employees” who were “gesturing at us.” They were told they needed to leave their seats—a suggestion they weren’t happy about.
“We weren’t there to have a fight with anybody … we wanted to express our political views, but the reason the shirt didn’t actually say ‘fuck transphobia’ is we’re grown-ups who know there’s a line,” Niedermeyer told the Mercury. “We tried to be respectful of it.”
The Moda Center employees offered Niedermeyer’s friend a free Fire t-shirt to wear instead, which was declined. The Mercury’s requests for comment from the Moda Center have so far gone unanswered.
The Fire fans called the situation “ridiculous,” especially as taxpayer dollars are slated to pay for a roughly $600 million renovation of the Moda Center. (Last week, the Multnomah County Board approved a term sheet that would use $101 million of public funds to renovate the arena. That’s in addition to $365 million pledged by the state and up to $120 million the city is expected to chip in.
Niedermeyer said the group was eventually escorted off the property.
For him and his friends, the issue is three-fold: the t-shirt didn’t violate the venue’s policy about clothing; they were simply engaging in the time-honored and important tradition of peaceful dissidence, and, at the end of the day, their ticket purchases and tax dollars help fund the Moda Center’s operations.
“We pay taxes here that pay for this building,” he said, before pointing out people came from out of state to protest who were “hateful.”
“When we reject that, we get thrown out of a game that we paid for,” he concluded. “It’s just not a good situation.”