Daily Digest: Children's Hospital denies surgeries to trans youth. And what the hell is Bob Ferguson doing?
Children's Hospital is denying gender-affirming care
The Stranger reports that Seattle's Children's Hospital isn't providing affirming gender care surgeries to trans people younger than 19, for fear of retaliatory budget cuts from the Trump administration. Activists say that's wrong, and possibly illegal under a state anti-discrimination law. Meanwhile, The Burner notes that Democrats in the WA legislature are proposing slashing funding for abortion access in the latest budget. And boy, the bad budget news is all over the region: OPB reports that the superintendent of Portland public schools says the district is facing a fiscal cliff and proposes cutting its budget by 15%.
What the hell are Democrats doing in the legislature?
Which brings us to the topic of building resiliency across Cascadia in response to Trump's budgetary and human rights onslaught: This morning I wrote about how governor Ferguson and the Democrats in the legislature are failing in their duty to protect residents from Trumps' cuts. Washington is home to some of the wealthiest people on the planet and we can't fund a state program for low-income childcare? We could be tapping that wealth to fund child care, health care, education, and affordable housing. Instead – Democrats in their wisdom are going to raise the gas tax – and guess who that's going to hit the most? Their last names aren't Gates or Bezos, that's certain.
BC Coast in the midst of emotional campaign
The Tyee writes that British Columbia's coastal city of Powell River is in a heated campaign for a seat in Parliament in Canada's federal election. A four-way race has been made more intense by revelations that the Conservative candidate, Aaron Gunn, has denied that genocide happened to First Nations people. In a riding that's 13 percent Indigenous, that's been controversial, and in response Gunn has failed to show up for debates.
No driving in Pike Place, and sadly, Mount Rainier
The Urbanist reports that Seattle will FINALLY experiment with banning most cars from driving in Pike Place – a completely reasonable step that European cities (and many North American ones) have realized actually improves the experience for shoppers and tourists. In sadder driving news, a bridge that leads into the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park is structurally unsafe, meaning access to the mountains this summer, offering solace in our time of authoritarian crisis just got more difficult.
--Andrew Engelson
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