Bartender charged with hate crime after confronting 'transgender' woman outside a woman's bathroom

PORTLAND, OR - A confrontation that was captured on surveillance footage has led to a bartender being convicted of a hate crime in liberal Portland.

OregonLive reported that the incident occurred on December 27, 2022 at Jakes Place, a bar in the Sellwood area of the city. Cassie McIntyre, a bartender who was off duty, was seen pushing a customer outside of the women’s restroom.

The customer, Riis Larsen, a biological male who said he identifies as a woman, testified in court on Tuesday that he had stepped out of the women’s bathroom “when McIntyre cornered her and told her she was a man and should use the other toilet." He noted that the bathroom is a single bathroom with a locking door.

Larsen reportedly attempted to explain his "gender identity," but McIntyre told him to “get out,” and then shoved him. The 15-second altercation was caught on a surveillance camera; however, the audio did not record.

R.J. Stangland, another patron of the establishment, also testified in court. He said that he “could hear McIntyre continuing to use the wrong pronouns for Larsen and saying that Larsen should not be allowed to use the women’s bathroom.”

When McIntyre took the stand, she said that she intercepted Larsen after a regular at the bar claimed that Larsen had cut in line for the women’s bathroom and pushed that customer. McIntyre also stated that she "didn’t understand" that she was misgendering the man.

“I wasn’t trying to misgender her – I had to look up what transgender was in the dictionary. We were just arguing over spilt milk,” McIntyre said. She added that she was “making space” and never jostled anyone.

It appears that rather than stand up for her original intent, McIntyre was attempting to keep the peace and play naïve on the stand to potentially avoid any further issues for herself, which is more than a little disappointing.

In a time where women, and parents of daughters, now must be concerned about sharing restrooms with biological men, McIntyre simply stood where few are willing to stand for fear of this type of retaliation. Then she backed down when she was going to have to face those consequences.

Portland prosecutors file more hate crime charges per capita than any other DA’s office in the State of Oregon, which makes it clear that McIntyre was facing an uphill battle.

Speaking to the jury during closing arguments, prosecutor Charlie Weiss said, “She is scrutinized in a different way than most of us in our day-to-day lives are scrutinized. People sometimes express disagreement no with what she says or what she does, but who she is.”

The reality is, Larsen is a biological male that has no business in a women’s bathroom. Crimes against women are astronomical. Someone who only identifies as a woman, but isn't actually one, would not be able to comprehend that risk.

Larsen attended the two-day trial and said that she suffered not knowing if the jury’s verdict would be “another instance of transphobia swept away.”

“Because that’s the essence of transphobic bias – erasure," he added. "It’s not being believed. In our system, people are innocent until they’re proven guilty, but in the real world I was judged and sentenced within moments with Ms. McIntyre decided to harass me."

Simply put, most people don’t care how someone identifies. Be respectful of the biological gender that faces challenges that you know nothing about. If you identify as a cat, are you using a litterbox? No. You’re using the bathroom. The issue is protecting biological genders from potential harm in a place where they are often vulnerable and alone.

In the end though, McIntyre was found guilty of second-degree bias crime and harassment charges and was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and two years of probation.

McIntyre’s attorney, Henry Oostrom-Shah, said, “McIntyre hopes to find an LGBTQ nonprofit that would accept her community service.”

Additionally, McIntyre apologized in court and offered to steer clear of another neighborhood bar so that Larsen had a place to go and not worry.

This is getting out of control.