An off-duty bartender was found guilty by an Oregon jury for beating a trans woman in the women’s restroom and misgendering her.
After a two-day trial last week, the jury found Cassie McIntyre guilty of second-degree bias crimes and harassment charges for the incident in December 2022, which was captured on surveillance footage from a Portland pub.
A Portland bartender was found guilty of second-degree bias crime and harassment charges after beating a transgender woman during a disagreement over the bathroom the victim may use. (Giulio Andreini/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Are Voters “Beyond a Turning Point” After Decades of Democratic Politics? Crisis in the North
When McIntyre, who had just finished her shift at the bar, accosted her and told her to use the men’s room because she “was a man,” Riis Larsen, a trans woman, testified that she had just left the single-use women’s room and that she had just come out of it.
Larsen claimed she tried to explain her gender identity, but that McIntyre shoved her after swearing at her. The shove was captured by a surveillance camera, but no audio was recorded.
Another patron testified that he repeatedly heard McIntyre use the male pronoun for Larsen.
According to The Oregonian, McIntyre said in court, “I wasn’t trying to misgender her; I had to look up what transgender was in the dictionary.” “We were just arguing over spilled milk.”
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McIntyre claimed that Larsen shoved another patron and waited in line for the bath. Larsen denied pushing someone else. According to the newspaper, McIntyre claimed she merely “made space” for herself by pushing Larsen.
Larsen described calling the police after leaving the bar and crying.
According to The Oregonian, Larsen said, “People are innocent until they’re proven guilty in our system.” “However, in the real world, within moments of Ms. McIntyre’s decision to assault me, I was judged and sentenced.”
According to data from the Department of Justice, about 4% of Oregon bias crimes were based on gender identity.
McIntyre’s lawyer claimed she intends to fulfill her sentence at an LGBTQ nonprofit while serving two years of probation and 50 hours of community service.
Portland, in particular, has been viewed as a haven for transgender people who are leaving conservative American states. Nearly 8% of people in the liberal state identify as LGBTQ. (Luiz C. Ribeiro, via Getty Images, for NY Daily News)According to a recent report from The Williams Institute at the University of California, Oregon has more transgender people per capita than any other state.
According to local media reports, the state has recently become a sanctuary for trans people fleeing conservative states.
