Cassie McIntyre of Portland, Oregon was found guilty of a second-degree bias crime and harassment in a Dec. 2022 incident. Her offense stemmed from challenging a gender dysphoric man who had been using the ladies restroom in the bar where she worked.
Stating reality is now a hate crime
Portland bartender convicted of hate crime for ‘misgendering’, confronting male who used women’s bathroom https://t.co/ycmyDaz8GJ
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) March 8, 2024
The bias crime included “misgendering” the 35-year-old Riis Larsen, who is a female-impersonating man. McIntyre tends bar at a Portland establishment called the Sellwood. She heard other customers mention that Larsen had shoved his way to the head of the line at the women’s restroom.
McIntyre then proceeded to physically confront Larsen and tell him to leave. She told Larsen that men were not permitted to use the women’s restroom. Larsen tried to explain his “gender identity” to McIntyre, but McIntyre was not receptive. Larsen left in tears and later called 911.
The case was argued in court by Multnomah County assistant District Attorney Charlie Weiss, who was appointed in 2023 as designated “hate crimes prosecutor.” This is a job description most citizens likely did not know existed. Furthermore, Multnomah County prosecutes “hate crimes” using an $800,000 grant from President Biden’s Department of Justice.
McIntyre claimed in court that she did not know what “misgendering” was and had to look up the definition in the dictionary. McIntyre was sentenced to two years of probation and 50 hours of community service.
There are no reports that Larsen was ever confronted by police about his alleged assaults on other bar patrons when he shoved his way into the women’s restroom.
Because the “bias crime” charge was based on “misgendering” accusations — McIntyre used the “wrong” pronouns in addressing Larsen — it is possible that the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office now considers “misgendering” to be a crime.
Larsen’s social media clearly shows him to be a far-left political activist, a self-proclaimed Marxist and anti-capitalist.
Many are alarmed at several aspects of “hate crimes” in general. First, they are seen as “thought crimes” in the manner of George Orwell’s dystopic 1984 novel. Central to the concept of “hate crimes” is that an offense is deemed more severe simply because of the personal opinions of the perpetrator. Second, there is the slippery slope of criminalizing what amounts to name-calling.
Freedom of speech is at its core the right to express opinions which may be offensive to others. Many wonder if the current trend will result in fifth graders being remanded to a juvenile detention center for calling their classmates “dummies” at recess.
