Courtesy of Clarke Stone
On Oct. 10 and 11, the Portland event space AVENUE hosted T Boy Wrestling, a queer gathering organized by Los Angeles-based social group Trans Dudes of L.A. The two events, which both ran for six hours into the evening, attracted hundreds of people from Portland and elsewhere to watch and participate in wrestling matches. Highlighting transgender athletes and performers, matches ranged from classic grappling duos to costumed and choreographed performances. T Boy Wrestling is organized by Adam Bandrowski and Mich Miller, the co-directors of Trans Dudes of L.A.
“Me and Adam have been very incrementally moving away from making physical art and into social practice art because of what is happening in the world around us and to our friend group and our family, our trans family, and across the U.S.,” Miller said in an interview with The Mossy Log. “Making one trans person’s life better grows and blossoms into so many other fruitful things, into healing and into other people, and we are seeing that in every city.”
The Oct. 11 event was the 10th occurrence of T Boy Wrestling since its founding by the pair in 2024. After selling out Los Angeles venues seating up to 800 people in March 2025, T Boy Wrestling events were scheduled across the country, attracting crowds in the Bay Area, New York City and now Portland. The Mossy Log was present at both Portland events, the first of which saw the debut of Ren Crenshaw ’28 in the ring under the moniker Pretty Boy.
“It was crazy and weird and so cool … having everyone show up for trans people because they care, and because they want not only trans rights and all that, but joy,” Crenshaw said of the experience. “For people to show up and be excited for trans joy was so magical.”
Each pair that entered the ring was welcomed by raucous cheering and their names displayed on a wall-length jumbotron alongside music of their choice. Then, the pair would begin three rounds of minute-long grapples, followed by a referee holding up the hand of the winner of the match.
Everyone took their own uniquely queer approach to the ring — many chose to forego the classic wrestling style entirely, instead putting on costumed, choreographed and often erotic performances to great approval from the audience. A popular pairing from the Friday event was Chad McBootlicker versus Eli the Twink. McBootlicker entered the ring in jean shorts, a red cap reading “USA” and held a cardboard sign with the word “TRANS” slashed out. Eli the Twink followed him, holding a sign that proclaimed “Protect TRANS People.” The match concluded with the crowning of Eli the Twink as the winner and Chad McBootlicker laying prone off the side of the ring, holding a phone displaying the Grindr logo. Both wrestlers wore significantly less clothing than what they entered the ring in, a common theme for T Boy Wrestling. Miller spoke to us about the importance of sexuality at their events.
“We are sex-positive, sex-liberatory and a trans-liberatory space, and what that means is these trans people are completely deciding what is happening in their match,” they said. “If they want to kiss, awesome. If they do not want to kiss, awesome. If they want it to be really traditional, really non-sexualized wrestling in the ring? That is awesome. But we are going to fully embrace and acknowledge the homoeroticism of wrestling historically, and we’re going to celebrate it and celebrate ourselves.”
Both evenings were hosted by transgender comedian Marley Gotterer, the self-proclaimed “Strongest Woman in the World,” and judged by a panel of queer people ranging in backgrounds from drag to mixed martial arts to event coordinating. One seat at the judges’ table was filled by Mack Beggs, an advocate for trans athletics ever since he won two back-to-back Texas State Championship titles in wrestling after being forced into the women’s division under Texas law.
Charlie Crecca, a Portland-based jiu jitsu grappler, worked as a coach for several practices leading up to the two T Boy Wrestling events, where he also served as a referee. Crecca recalled feeling excluded from athletics growing up for being trans, and spoke to the Mossy Log about Beggs serving as a role model for transgender wrestlers.
“When I would feel uncomfortable or scared going to the gym, I would think, you know … ‘If Mack Beggs can have the whole country hating on him, then I can go when literally nobody is even telling me anything, I’m just self-conscious,’” Crecca said. “That was one of the highlights (of T Boy Wrestling) for me, was meeting him.”
Both evenings of wrestling ended with a dramatic finale by the duo Atlanta Proper and Dallas Havoc. The match began in the light of the Jumbotron wall flickering between red-toned footage and a deeply ominous voice filling the room with claims of “making the Earth great again.” The match commenced with theatrical flips, jumps from the ropes and a chase beneath and around the ring itself. Proper eventually won out over Havoc, taking from the side of the ring a large trans flag and appearing to impale their opponent to the mat with the flagpole. Both nights, the room erupted into hollering, roaring applause and tears following the undeniable joy of being trans and surrounded by other trans people.
Crecca spoke to the Mossy Log about the importance of transgender spaces in athletics.
“(T Boy Wrestling) is really one of the only displays of proud trans sexuality, and the sexuality of trans people being there for us,” he said. “A lot of the people attending the events are trans. People are really excited to see something celebrating our bodies and being, like, hot and not worrying about that.”
T Boy Wrestling is set to return to the ring across several American cities in 2026, including Chicago, Boston and Seattle in the spring. According to co-directors Bandrowski and Miller, this is just the beginning.
“It really just depends on, ‘What is the meaning of this? Is it the spectacle? Is it the visibility? Is it the growth within sports and the athletic community for trans people? Is it just the growth of a support system and the networking of trans people in general?’ I don’t really totally know what that will be,” Miller said. “Whatever it is, leaving space for the unknown, it is going to be bigger and better than we could have imagined or predicted.”
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