Weather: Happy Earth Day! Today’s forecast: sunny with a high near 60. It’s perfect weather for pretending we’re not hurtling toward climate collapse. So get out there, hug a tree, recycle your plastic, and try not to think about how Exxon knew in the '70s.

Born Into Freedom, Dad Denied It: Dr. Noor Abdalla and political prisoner Mahmoud Khalil welcomed their first child yesterday. Khalil had requested a two-week furlough from his detention in Louisiana to be present for the birth. Per the cruelty of the Trump regime, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official named “Mellissa” denied Khalil’s request. 

Religious Freedom Means Never Having to Learn Anything: The culture war circus is back at the Supreme Court, where Justices are weighing whether books with LGBTQ+ characters in public schools trample on religious freedom. A school board in Montgomery County, Maryland okayed five storybooks to promote tolerance—scandalous!—but some parents claim that just seeing queer people in print violates their religious beliefs. They're arguing that a) parents should control what their kids learn and b) the Constitution guarantees them the right to not be mildly uncomfortable in a pluralistic society. With a bench stacked by Trump and dominated by justices molded in Catholic schools, odds are good that the Court will carve out some religious opt-out. 

Venezuela Fires Back at Bukele's Prisoner Swap Scheme: Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, went scorched earth on El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, branding him a “neo-Nazi” and “serial human rights violator” after Bukele proposed a prisoner swap with Nicolás Maduro. Bukele offered to trade 252 Venezuelans deported by Trump to his US-backed concentration camp, CECOT, for an equal number of political prisoners held in Venezuela—also naming out activists and journalists swept up in last year’s crackdowns. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” Bukele posted on X to Maduro. Saab hit back on state TV, calling the offer “cynical,” accusing Bukele of narcissism, and demanding details on who’s detained, their legal status, and medical conditions.

Trans Athlete Ban Fails, Barely: In yet another attempt to legislate bigotry under the guise of "protecting sports." The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), the state’s high school sports governing body, almost passed a rule banning trans girls from girls' sports. The WIAA came just one vote shy of greenlighting this retrograde policy. And just for kicks, they also floated a separate “open” division—because what’s more inclusive than institutionalized exile? That gem of social engineering lost in a blowout, 13 votes for and 40 against. Let this be your latest reminder: trans bigotry isn’t just a DC export, it’s alive, well, and still trying to run drills in your local gym.

Now let's pass it to Hannah Murphy Winter for a blurb cameo:

Good news! On Friday evening, the US District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that, whether you’re an insurance company or a healthcare provider, you can’t deny gender-affirming top surgery to trans kids and then turn around and provide it to cis kids. In a ruling against Premera Blue Cross, the judge found that it was a violation of the discrimination clause of the ACA. “The court determined in no uncertain terms that Premera Blue Cross’s policy categorically denying safe, evidence-based, and effective health care…is discriminatory and unlawful,” said Lambda Legal’s Omar Gonzalez-Pagan. “In fact, the court could not have been clearer. As it wrote in the ruling: ‘The Court need not choose between the divergent interpretations of the term 'sex' because, under either view, Premera’s medical policy facially discriminates on the basis of sex.” Someone tell Seattle Children’s that…

ICYMI: Despite the aforementioned good news, our Vivian McCall wrote a follow-up about Seattle Children's Hospital deciding to still yank gender-affirming surgery for patients under 19. The decision led to more than 550 health professionals and advocacy groups calling them out for breaking the law and promoting harmful, outdated views, while vowing to take legal action. But, in true "we don’t give a damn" fashion, the hospital's gone radio silent, leaving trans youth and their families twisting in the wind.

Seattle’s War on Tents (and People in Them): The Seattle Times reports that the City is absolutely crushing it—if “it” means shattering records for homeless encampment sweeps because nothing says progress like forcing people into a perpetual state of fear and displacement. But hey, as long as your Golden Retriever has a poop-free patch of grass in the park, who cares if people are overdosing and dying in the street? A little dehumanization is a small price to pay for vibes, right?

Ferguson Signs 35 Bills, Still No Wealth Tax: Gov. Bob Ferguson signed 35 bills into law yesterday, proving once again that bureaucracy can move fast, at least if it’s got caffeine and a legislative majority. From blocking out-of-state National Guardsmen from playing Weekend Warrior on our turf, to making sure pets aren’t left behind when the climate crisis comes knocking, to making sure your local casino is only moderately shady, it’s a buffet of, "Hey, that actually makes sense." Somewhere in there, they even found time to fight a burrowing shrimp, because in Washington, we fight fascism, crustaceans, and any attempt to pass a wealth tax with equal gusto.

Special Election, Today! Let’s keep it a buck, you probably thought that ballot that showed up in your mailbox this month was either junk mail or a coupon for a Domino’s 2-for-1 (what disgusting pizza, btw). And even if you did crack it open, chances are you had no idea we were voting today, let alone on what. But don’t worry, we’ve got your back: our SECB guide breaks down why you should vote NO on the fingerprint renewal measure, because handing over your biometric data to the government in this dystopian hellscape? Yeah, hard pass. Just make sure you drop your ballot in a box by 8 pm or slap a stamp on it before midnight, or it’s just another piece of paper lost to the surveillance state.

Our EIC in Action: If you’ve got a pulse and a brain, swing by Town Hall Seattle tonight at 7:30 pm. Our editor-in-chief will be moderating a conversation for Earth Day. You’ll hear from local leaders fighting the good fight on climate and equity, and meet some grassroots folks actually doing the work! 

And to mark the occasion, I’ll leave you with this wonderfully appropriate song by the late, great Marvin Gaye: