<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joseph-kennedy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Kennedy</a>, the high school football coach in Washington state who won a landmark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court</a> case after losing his job for praying on the field with students, announced on Wednesday that he was stepping away from football to advocate for religious liberty.
Kennedy was placed on administrative leave from Bremerton High School in 2015 after complaints about his on-field prayers, then eventually lost his job. He was later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coach-fired-for-praying-at-football-game-reinstated-to-old-role-gets-nearly-2-million-settlement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reinstated</a> to his position after the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-affirms-religious-liberty-rules-in-favor-of-public-high-school-football-coach-punished-for-praying-after-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled this summer</a> that his First Amendment rights had been violated. 
On Wednesday, Kennedy <a href="https://coachjoekennedy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Kennedy-Resigns-from-Bremerton-High-School-RELEASE.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he was resigning from his position at Bremerton to care for a sick family member and be a religious liberty advocate. 
“I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by working from outside the school system so that is what I will do,&#8221; Kennedy said in a statement. &#8220;I will continue to work to help people understand and embrace the historic ruling at the heart of our case. As a result of our case, we all have more freedom, not less. That should be celebrated and not disrespected.”  
“As I have demonstrated, we must make a stand for what we believe in,&#8221; he added. &#8220;In my case, I made a stand to take a knee. I encourage all Americans to make their own stand for freedom and our right to express our faith as we see fit. I appreciate the people of Bremerton, the coaches, staff and especially the students and wish them all well. Bremerton will always be home.” 
Kennedy only coached in one game back at Bremerton before announcing his resignation. Bremerton <a href="https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/following-years-of-legal-battles-praying-football-coach-joe-kennedy-resigns-after-1-game#:~:text=BREMERTON%2C%20Wash.&amp;text=Joe%20Kennedy%20strode%20alone%20to,School%2027%2D12%20Friday%20night." target="_blank" rel="noopener">defeated</a> Mount Douglas Secondary School 27-12, after which Kennedy prayed by himself in the middle of the field. According to the Seattle Times, he plans on moving to Florida, where he lived as his legal saga played out.
“The district has received Mr. Kennedy’s resignation and it is pending board approval at tomorrow’s regularly scheduled meeting,” Bremerton spokesperson Karen Bevers <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/praying-bremerton-football-coach-joe-kennedy-quits-after-one-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Times. 
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In June, the Supreme Court ruled that Kennedy had been discriminated against because of his faith. 
“Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress,” Justice Neil Gorsuch <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/high-school-football-coach-scores-big-win-supreme-court-post-game-prayer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “Religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.”
Kennedy, a former Marine, is working on a book and film project about his experience.

Christians Gather At Supreme Court To Pray As Bremerton Case Is Heard

Coach Who Won Landmark SCOTUS Prayer Ruling Steps Away From Football To Advocate For Religious Liberty

Football

Joseph Kennedy

Religion

Religious Liberty

SCOTUS

U.S.

Washington

A Republican senator says that federal employees are still working from home as if the coronavirus pandemic was in full swing, and is demanding an investigation into how the widespread failure to get workers back into the office is impacting taxpayers.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) calls into question government claims that remote workers can be just as productive as coming into the office, and points to various inspector general reports to prove her point. One investigation into a Department of Commerce employee found that a government worker was paid for 730 hours of work that was instead spent &#8220;playing golf, shooting pool, and going to happy hour.&#8221;
&#8220;I know what working from home actually means,” Ernst said. “It’s not fair to let the responsibilities of running an agency—and the country—fall on the shoulders of the hardworking public servants who are showing up while others are out golfing on the taxpayer’s dime.&#8221;
Ernst&#8217;s call comes more than a year after President Joe Biden pledged in his 2022 State of the Union address that &#8220;the vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person.&#8221; But by that fall, only 5% of government employees swiped into the office on a typical day. This month, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/04/biden-end-remote-work-federal-employees#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reiterated</a> the call, telling Cabinet members that it&#8217;s a &#8220;priority&#8221; that Biden expects them &#8220;aggressively execute&#8221; on in order to get &#8220;better results for the American people.&#8221;
There are some indications that federal employees who are working remotely might not be working at all.
A review of Department of Health and Human Services remote employees found that as many as <a href="https://functionalgovernment.org/internal-hhs-report-shows-20-30-of-workforce-may-not-have-been-working/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30% did not even log in</a> to the agency&#8217;s email or computer systems on days they were &#8220;working&#8221; from home. Those findings were from 2020, the height of the coronavirus pandemic — when Americans presumably might have needed assistance from an agency with &#8220;Health&#8221; in its name.
In the private sector, companies have made the best of remote work by saving money on office costs. But federal agencies spend $5 billion a year to lease office buildings and $2 billion on upkeep, and the Government Accountability Office found that 75% or more of office space at the headquarters of 17 agencies is not being used.
The government also pays people different rates depending on whether their office is in a high-cost-of-living area or a low one — and has failed to update that pay structure to account for remote work. The government is still paying workers based on where their office is, even if that&#8217;s not where they live. That means bureaucrats could be drawing D.C. wages and living like kings in low cost of living areas, Ernst believes.
&#8220;These pay determinations should be re-evaluated, and possibly redefined, to save taxpayers money,&#8221; Ernst wrote.
Ernst <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/department_of_state_letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent a letter</a> to every agency&#8217;s Inspector General asking them to use internet IP addresses and physical badge swipe-ins to determine what regions employees actually spend most of their time in, as well as how much additional pay they receive by being paid for the cost-of-living area of the headquarters building rather than where they live. She also asked how agencies&#8217; various metrics, such as delivery of service and wait times, have corresponded to the increase in remote work.
She suggests that since employees are already moving to lower-cost-of-living places, federal agency headquarters could be there, too. Ernst introduced a bill called Strategic Withdrawal of Agencies for Meaningful Placement, or the <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ernst-introduces-swamp-act-push-for-relocation-of-agency-headquarters-throughout-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SWAMP Act</a>, that would locate agencies in parts of the country with expertise in their topics — for example, the Department of Agriculture would be located in a farming state like Iowa.
She also asked the agencies to determine whether various metrics, such as delivery of service and wait times, have corresponded to the increase in remote work.
In some instances, people are already pointing the finger at absent employees for government failures. At the Atlanta Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, which has one of the longest wait times for medical care in the nation, one manager responsible for scheduling posted a picture of himself &#8220;working&#8221; in a bubble bath. The post led to criticism from another employee, who said, &#8220;It’s almost as if this employee is making a mockery of all the veterans. I can sit here in my tub and relax, and you just have to wait.”
Ernst says one of the veterans served by the hospital felt the consequences.
&#8220;One such veteran temporarily lost his eyesight while waiting six months for an appointment with an eye doctor at the Atlanta VA,&#8221; Ernst wrote.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-pandemic-unemployment-claims-listed-the-names-of-still-employed-government-workers-senator-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thousands Of Pandemic Unemployment Claims Listed The Names Of Still-Employed Government Workers, Senator Says</a>

Fudge Rounds

Federal Workers Ignore Biden’s Call To Stop Working From Home — And Some Might Not Be Working At All

Coronavirus

Joni Ernst

Office of Personnel Management

Washington state paid a group of drag queens and transgender activists thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to teach government employees how to “fight for trans liberation,” according to public records and video obtained by The Daily Wire.
The nearly 2-hour long presentation, titled “Drag Story Hour and Fireside Chat,” featured several activists from Drag Story Hour, which hosts events where men in drag read to children at libraries and schools, as well as the Trans Formations Project, an activist group that fights what it calls &#8220;anti-trans&#8221; legislation, including bills that defend children from irreversible medical interventions that seek to change their sex.
Drag Story Hour was paid $5,000 to participate in the event, which was part of the Washington State Office of Financial Management&#8217;s &#8220;Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Empowerment Conference,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/K4124-Drag-Story-2023-DEI-Conf-Speaker-Executed-05.11.2023.pdf">contract</a> obtained by The Daily Wire.
The talk focused on political activism, community organizing, and the role that &#8220;allies&#8221; should play in the &#8220;fight for trans liberation,&#8221; according to exclusive video of the presentation. Ace Sutherland, a New York City-based <a href="https://www.transformationsproject.org/about">board member for Trans Formations Project</a>, told the government employees that it wanted to &#8220;direct&#8221; the government on how to help in the fight.
&#8220;My message is to make sure that you reach out directly to those who are directly impacted, much like you’re doing today, to ask us how you can help us in our fight for queer and trans liberation,&#8221; Ace Sutherland, a New York City-based board member for Trans Formations Project. &#8220;We know what we want, and we don’t need anyone speaking over us or for us. We have a voice for ourselves and we will direct you on how to best advocate on our behalf.&#8221;
<div style="width: 480px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-607315-1" width="480" height="300" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/We-Know-What-We-Want.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/We-Know-What-We-Want.mp4">https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/We-Know-What-We-Want.mp4</a></video></div>
Drag Story Hour Executive Director Johnathan Hamilt, who reads to children while <a href="https://www.publichealthpost.org/profiles/jonathan-hamilt-performing-public-health/">wearing drag</a>, offered attendees specific ways that they could support Drag Story Hour through activism. He discussed an instance where demonstrators protested a drag story hour event and they had “a wall of trans women protecting the drag performer,” but said his group needs &#8220;cis white&#8221; people to talk to the police and protestors for it.
&#8220;We shouldn’t have trans lives on the line,&#8221; Hamilt said. &#8220;We need that cis white barrier to talk to the police, to face these people, they should be in between us.”
<div style="width: 480px;" class="wp-video"><video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-607315-2" width="480" height="268" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Cis-White-Barrier.mp4?_=2" /><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Cis-White-Barrier.mp4">https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Cis-White-Barrier.mp4</a></video></div>
Sutherland also said she wanted the state employees to talk to friends and family about “trans liberation,” arguing that they&#8217;re not really friends if they don&#8217;t embrace radical gender ideas.
“If your friends are not on the same path as you, they are not your friends,” Sutherland said.
<div style="width: 480px;" class="wp-video"><video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-607315-3" width="480" height="300" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Not-Your-Friend.mp4?_=3" /><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Not-Your-Friend.mp4">https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Not-Your-Friend.mp4</a></video></div>
Founder and Executive Director of the Trans Formations Project Alex Petrovina used the taxpayer-funded forum to ask Washington state employees to donate to the 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, providing the attendees with a donation link, QR code, and a way to donate by text.
“You can see we are currently doing a fundraiser, we are, as I said earlier, an entirely volunteer-run organization, which unfortunately is not the most sustainable method of working,” Petrovina said. &#8220;Supporting us in this would mean the world and allow us to continue doing the work but not only do the work but do the work more sustainably and protect our people.”
“Donate to the Trans Formations Project to support our legislation and representative tracking work, and work towards trans justice,” a fundraising plea inside the presentation said, alongside the hashtag “PrideInTransJustice.”
<div style="width: 480px;" class="wp-video"><video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-607315-4" width="480" height="304" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Trans-Fundraising-Request.mp4?_=4" /><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Trans-Fundraising-Request.mp4">https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Trans-Fundraising-Request.mp4</a></video></div>
Petrovina later went on to urge state employees to use their influence in the government to bolster the transgender movement.
“I also just want to add that as government employees you have more power than you may think you do. You have influence over people’s lives, you have influence over policies, you have influence over how policies are implemented.”
“You need to be intentional and you need to be conscious of doing it through a lens of inclusivity,” Petrovina said.
<div style="width: 480px;" class="wp-video"><video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-607315-5" width="480" height="264" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/State-Gov-Power.mp4?_=5" /><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/State-Gov-Power.mp4">https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/State-Gov-Power.mp4</a></video></div>
Hamilt told The Daily Wire that this was the first time that Drag Story Hour had partnered with Washington State, but that the group &#8220;had amazing feedback and gratitude from the event and looking forward to working with them again soon.&#8221;
The Trans Formations Project did not respond to a request for comment.

Drag Story Hour Performers

WATCH: Drag Queens, Trans Activists Coach Government Employees On ‘Trans Liberation’ At Taxpayer-Funded Event

Drag Queen story hour

LGBT

Transgender

A huge fire broke out at a Seattle homeless encampment just blocks away from one of Google&#8217;s corporate offices earlier this week.
The blaze started at an encampment at Mercer Street and Fairview Avenue on Monday, near Interstate 5, destroying part of the camp and endangering people living in a nearby apartment complex.
The fire is at least the <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-homeless-crisis-homelessness-homicide-encampment-strangled-south-lake-union-mercer-street-king-county-washington-seattle-police-department-violent-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ninth</a> at the encampment since last summer. It sits just a few blocks east of Google&#8217;s Fairview corporate office. The Google office does not appear to have been affected by the fire.
A 46-year-old homeless man who lives at the camp was arrested in connection with the fire. He told police the fire was started by accident when he knocked over a candle while cleaning his tent, <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-homeless-crisis-mercer-street-fairview-avenue-encampment-fire-flames-a-priority-for-cleanup-removal-washington-state-mayor-bruce-harrell-kcrha-homelessness-authority-unhoused-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to court documents obtained by KOMO News.
The man reportedly said he attempted to extinguish the fire, but it spread too quickly. He was spotted fleeing the scene, according to witnesses who spoke with police. Law enforcement caught up with the suspect a few blocks away and arrested him.
Footage from the fire, which could be seen all over the city, shows black clouds of smoke billowing around buildings, bridges, and the Seattle Space Needle.
&#8220;Something is seriously on fire around Eastlake in Seattle right now,&#8221; one social media user posted on X along with a video of the menacing clouds.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Seattle encampment, fire <a href="https://t.co/MnwOwIUdiw">pic.twitter.com/MnwOwIUdiw</a>
&mdash; Glenn E. Malone, EdD (@GEMalone) <a href="https://twitter.com/GEMalone/status/1691241586171293700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Something is seriously on fire around Eastlake in Seattle right now <a href="https://t.co/vzt50fOQ7J">pic.twitter.com/vzt50fOQ7J</a>
&mdash; Sergey Yun (@iskra_9) <a href="https://twitter.com/iskra_9/status/1691238585775853573?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Fire near downtown Seattle <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fire</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/seattle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#seattle</a> <a href="https://t.co/2WbEDuJfA3">pic.twitter.com/2WbEDuJfA3</a>
&mdash; Hayssam (@destinatepath) <a href="https://twitter.com/destinatepath/status/1691238648350674949?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The Seattle Fire Department responded to the fire and prevented it from spreading beyond the homeless encampment. Court documents also showed that there is an exterior gas line nearby.
City officials <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-homeless-crisis-mercer-street-fairview-avenue-encampment-fire-flames-a-priority-for-cleanup-removal-washington-state-mayor-bruce-harrell-kcrha-homelessness-authority-unhoused-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> cleanup work would occur within two or three weeks. Cleanup crews have already visited the site this week, a spokesman for the mayor said.
The suspect is being held and investigated for felony reckless burning. His bail was set at $50,000, although prosecutors had asked for a $150,000 bail.
One resident who lives in the apartment building near the homeless encampment expressed her frustration to KOMO News.
&#8220;I told the city this was going to happen, they set fires all the time. We called fire department about seven or eight times this year,&#8221; she <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-homeless-crisis-mercer-street-fairview-avenue-encampment-fire-flames-a-priority-for-cleanup-removal-washington-state-mayor-bruce-harrell-kcrha-homelessness-authority-unhoused-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the outlet. &#8220;It&#8217;s absolutely insane they are protecting ten people over 2,000 innocent people.&#8221;
Seattle residents have been <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-homeless-crisis-mercer-street-fairview-avenue-encampment-fire-flames-a-priority-for-cleanup-removal-washington-state-mayor-bruce-harrell-kcrha-homelessness-authority-unhoused-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asking</a> the city to get rid of the encampment for months, citing the safety of both the homeless people and other residents.
In March, a woman was <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-homeless-crisis-homelessness-homicide-encampment-strangled-south-lake-union-mercer-street-king-county-washington-seattle-police-department-violent-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strangled</a> to death at the encampment, and her body was not discovered for four days.
Seattle has seen its homeless population spike in recent years.
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In 2022, about 7,620 people were homeless in King County, which includes Seattle, up 38% from 2020, <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/heres-why-people-think-seattle-will-reverse-course-on-homelessness/#:~:text=It%27s%20difficult%20to%20say%20whether,a%2038%25%20increase%20from%202020." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the county&#8217;s annual point-in-time count.
Seattle is not the only West Coast city struggling with the trifecta of crime, homelessness, and drug addiction. Harrowing scenes of homeless people engaging in open-air drug use and living in filth on city streets continue to come out of neighborhoods in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and other cities as well.

Like Many U.S. Cities, Seattle Struggles With Crime And Homelessness During Pandemic Era

VIDEO: Huge Fire Breaks Out At Seattle Homeless Encampment Near Google Office

Crime

Drugs

Homeless

Homelessness

Seattle

Washington Democratic Governor Jay Inslee was sued Wednesday by a nonprofit legal group seeking to stop the enforcement of a law allowing the state to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/washington-to-allow-shelters-to-keep-runaway-children-from-parents-if-child-seeking-transgender-surgery-abortion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hide child sex-change surgeries</a> from parents.
American First Legal, led by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, filed the <a href="https://media.aflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/16204634/Dkt-001-20230816-IPEC-Complaint.pdf?_ga=2.200886126.1589291635.1692274349-1434704885.1692274349" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> over Senate Bill 5599, which was recently signed into law by Inslee. The bill was pushed by leftist lawmakers as protection of trans-identifying youth and allows “host homes” to keep parents in the dark about their child’s sex-change procedure. <a href="https://twitter.com/America1stLegal/status/1691920533041103099" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to American First Legal, the legislation “creates a dangerous incentive for minors who disagree with their parents on ‘gender-affirming care’ to run away to a shelter or host home.”
“No state action more frighteningly illustrates the threat to our children than this law,” Miller <a href="https://aflegal.org/america-first-legal-sues-washington-governor-to-block-state-sanctioned-kidnapping-bill-that-allows-state-to-hide-kids-seeking-gender-transition-from-parents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “This sick, authoritarian law essentially allows the state to kidnap children from their parents and hide their whereabouts to surgically and chemically mutilate them — and to formally deprive their parents of any legal ability to stop the medical disfigurement of their sons and daughters by gender extremists targeting their children.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
/1🚨BREAKING — we sued the governor of Washington <a href="https://twitter.com/GovInslee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovInslee</a> to block enforcement of a new “state-sanctioned kidnapping” bill that allows the state to hide kids from their parents to perform “gender transitions” &#8211; including disfiguring drugs and mutilating surgeries.
Read more:
&mdash; America First Legal (@America1stLegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/America1stLegal/status/1691920520504102919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Under the new <a href="https://legiscan.com/WA/text/SB5599/id/2785218" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a>, shelters or &#8220;host homes,&#8221; are not required to notify parents of a runaway child if the child claims to be fleeing parents who do not approve of a sex-change procedure or an abortion. Instead of reporting the runaway child to the parents, the host home is required to notify the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
The legislation also adds abortion as a “compelling reason” for licensed shelters and host homes not to notify parents if a runaway child is seeking such a procedure. The bill easily made it through the Democrat-controlled legislature, passing the Senate 29-20 and the House 57-39. It was sponsored by state Sen. Marko Liias, a Democrat who represents an area just north of Seattle and is co-chair of the LGBTQ caucus. 
“Every child – including our trans youth – deserves to be safe at home. In a perfect world, that is the case, but unfortunately, that is not the reality,” Liias said in a press release. “This legislation affirms our commitment to ensuring children have a safe and stable place to go when they are not welcome at home.” 
When he signed the bill, Inslee said the law is a “compassionate, developmentally appropriate, and reasoned approach to support these youth as they access gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services.”
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The suit also goes after Washington Attorney General Robert Furguson and the secretary of the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Ross Hunter. American First Legal argues that the new statute &#8220;deprives certain parents of their fundamental rights under the United States Constitution to direct the care and upbringing of their children.&#8221;
&#8220;America First Legal is proud to defend parental rights and stand up against the insidious &#8216;gender-affirming care&#8217; agenda, which promotes using experimental medical procedures and drugs on minor children – potentially altering their lives forever,&#8221; said Miller.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Jay Inslee

Dem Governor Sued Over New Law Allowing State To Hide Child Sex-Change Surgeries From Parents

Lawsuit

Politics

Social Issues

Stephen Miller

transgender surgery

Three school district members were ousted from their positions on a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington state</a> school board after they defied a statewide COVID mask mandate last year.
Board members Semi Bird, Kari Williams, and Audra Byrd <a href="https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/article278079582.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were recalled</a> from their positions on the Richland School District board in southern Washington with 54% of the vote against them in an August 1 election.
The recall effort was sparked by the school board&#8217;s February 2022 vote to make face masks optional for students in the Richland district in defiance of Democratic Governor Jay Inslee&#8217;s statewide mask mandate.
The three board members were accused of violating the state’s indoor mask mandate, Washington&#8217;s Open Public Meetings Act, and the school district&#8217;s policies.
Two of the three, Williams and Byrd, attended their final board meeting last week on Tuesday. Bird, who is now running for governor in Washington, skipped the meeting.
“I will continue to pray for our district and the students here, and I will do my best to serve in whatever ways I can on a smaller scale,” Byrd <a href="https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/article278079582.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in emotional farewell remarks at the meeting.
“I am a firm believer in the power of the election process and in the voice of the people. Although I will admit I was a little heartbroken for the election results, I love that we have a country where people have the power to vote and stand up for what they believe in,” she said.
Byrd exited to applause from a group who had showed up at the board meeting to support her.
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Williams&#8217; seat is up for re-election this year, so she may be able to run again and win her seat back.
“I’m just grateful to this great community and this great district, and eager to return in November,” Williams said at the last meeting.
Meanwhile, Bird, who is running for governor in Washington as a Republican in 2024, said the recall was &#8220;never about just a mask mandate,&#8221; which he emphasized was &#8220;not a law.&#8221;
&#8220;It was a combination of change and accountability that we brought forward that the progressives within our district did not like,&#8221; Bird <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/conservatives-ousted-wa-school-board-facing-recall-mask-mandate-defiance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News on Sunday. &#8220;With the support of the teachers union and other progressive advocacy groups, they brought tens of thousands of dollars to a school board recall during an off-year primary where we had our supporters come out in numbers and support us, but the masses of conservatives who are our voter base did not turn out.&#8221;
Bird served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was the first black candidate ever elected to the Richland school district&#8217;s board.
&#8220;I will fight every day to get us back to human decency, because that&#8217;s what Dr. King fought for, the soul of America,&#8221; Bird said, adding that he prays Americans &#8220;come together and say, &#8216;stop it.&#8217; Let&#8217;s protect our kids.&#8221;
After the pandemic pitted parents and schools against each other over everything from pandemic restrictions to learning loss to gender identity, a wave of frustrated parents decided to run for school boards themselves.
Conservatives flipped at least nine school boards in at least six states — Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Florida — giving them conservative majorities, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-moms-and-dads-taking-over-school-boards-across-the-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to two parental rights groups who endorsed many of the victorious candidates.

GERMANY-EDUCATION-SCHOOL-HEALTH-VIRUS

Three School Board Members In Washington Ousted After Defying Mask Mandate

Education

Mask Mandate

Public Schools

A female Seattle cop with 23 years on the force sent a scathing resignation letter blasting the city for allowing &#8220;crime and anarchy&#8221; to take over.
Seattle Police Lieutenant Jessica Taylor, who retired on August 1 after more than two decades on the force, refused to complete the standard exit interview form and instead penned a blistering 15-page letter to the police chief, KTTH’s Jason Rantz Show <a href="https://mynorthwest.com/3918086/rantz-seattle-cop-says-criminals-running-city-brutal-resignation-letter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;Chief Diaz, let me tell you, the state of the Seattle Police Department and this city is a disgrace,&#8221; Taylor began her letter.
&#8220;The toxic mix of the Seattle City Council&#8217;s absurdity, the spinelessness of the Mayor, the leniency of the prosecutor&#8217;s office, and your failed leadership has accelerated this city&#8217;s downhill slide straight to rock bottom,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;The problems were already brewing before you came on the scene, but since your arrival, it&#8217;s been a free fall into anarchy &amp; chaos.&#8221;
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Violent crime remains high in Seattle this year after <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/seattle-residents-had-mail-stopped-because-rising-crime-1800729" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hitting</a> a 15-year high in 2022. So far this year, Seattle has seen 28 homicides, more than 1,500 aggravated assaults, more than 3,700 car thefts, more than 4,000 burglaries, and more than 10,700 larceny thefts, <a href="https://www.seattle.gov/police/information-and-data/data/crime-dashboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to police data.
&#8220;If you haven&#8217;t noticed, the criminals are running this city,&#8221; Taylor wrote. &#8220;Aren&#8217;t you embarrassed? I am. It&#8217;s mortifying. The city that once prided itself on progressiveness and prosperity has now become a hotbed for crime and anarchy.&#8221;
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Taylor accused Adrian Diaz, the police chief, of having an &#8220;insatiable appetite for control&#8221; that blinds him to the sacrifices of officers facing danger on the street.
She also accused the police chief of &#8220;badging&#8221; his way to the front of a Taylor Swift concert, &#8220;where people paid $1000s to be there.&#8221;
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Taylor also lambasted Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, a Democrat, accusing him of prioritizing &#8220;political correctness&#8221; over safety.
Meanwhile, the Seattle City Council has &#8220;lost touch with reality and is making decisions that defy common sense and basic logic,&#8221; Taylor wrote.
“Their priority is playing politics and pandering to radical ideologies, rather than genuinely serving the city’s and its resident&#8217;s best interests,” she said.
&#8220;So, as I walk away from the Seattle Police Department, I do so with my head held high, knowing that I stood up for what&#8217;s right and refused to be silenced,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;My conscience is clear, and I have no regrets about speaking out against the failed leadership that has brought this department and this city to its knees.&#8221;
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Seattle is not the only West Coast city struggling with the trifecta of crime, homelessness, and drug addiction. Harrowing scenes of homeless people engaging in open-air drug use and living in filth on city streets continue to come out of the neighborhoods most in need of help.
Los Angeles is seeing a drop in overall violent crime, but personal theft is up 15% to more than 19,700 thefts so far this year, <a href="https://lapdonlinestrgeacc.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/lapdonlinemedia/cityprof.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to police. Meanwhile, homelessness is up 10% this year, <a href="https://www.lahsa.org/news?article=927-lahsa-releases-results-of-2023-greater-los-angeles-homeless-count#:~:text=LOS%20ANGELES%20%E2%80%93%20The%202023%20Greater,to%20an%20estimated%2046%2C260%20people." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the latest count, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-homelessness-up-10-2023-count-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> last month. Los Angeles County’s homeless population rose to about 75,518 people, up from 69,144 in 2022.
In San Francisco, violent crime is up when compared to August of last year. Homicides are up 20% to 35 homicides, robberies are up 14% to more than 1,600, and car thefts are up 13% to more than 4,100, police data <a href="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crime-dashboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shows</a>. About 38,000 people <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rising-crime-homelessness-leave-residents-of-san-francisco-and-oakland-on-edge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are homeless</a> on a given night in the Bay Area, up 35% since 2019. Crime and open-air drug use have caused businesses to flee San Francisco’s downtown, where foot traffic has thinned.
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Seattle’s Homeless Struggle During Coronavirus Pandemic

‘Anarchy & Chaos’: Female Seattle Cop With 23 Years On Force Sends Scathing Resignation Letter

'Anarchy, Chaos:' Female Seattle Cop With 23 Years On Force Sends Scathing Resignation Letter

A journalist whose family was targeted by Nazi Germany was fired from his position as an editorial board member for The Seattle Times after he was accused of “defending” Adolf Hitler on Twitter.
David Josef Volodzko began his career as a university lecturer but decided to switch to journalism to report on injustices throughout the world. He has spent the past 15 years covering stories about refugees, prisoners of war, and war itself. In <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/seattle-times-writer-fired-over-hitler-lenin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an essay</a> about his firing posted to Bari Weiss’ Substack “The Free Press,” Volodzko describes himself as a democratic socialist and notes that his wife is a DEI trainer.
None of that prepared him for the current cancel culture movement.
<div id="attachment_600215" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-600215" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-600215 size-medium" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/David-Volodzko-300x300.jpeg" alt="David Volodzko was fired from his job after comparing Lenin and Hitler." width="300" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/David-Volodzko-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/David-Volodzko-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/David-Volodzko.jpeg 312w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />David Volodzko</div>
Volodzko thought that he, his wife, and his baby daughter would fit in perfectly in ultra-progressive Seattle.
His first official column for the Times was about Seattle’s statue of Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. Volodzko wrote about how the people of the Fremont neighborhood in which it stands dress it up and make it a joke, but also about his own family’s struggles and Lenin’s genocidal killings.
He received positive and negative responses, as any columnist would. The column was never the issue, but the words Volodzko used to post it on Twitter cost him his job.
“In fact, while Hitler has become the great symbol of evil in history books, he too was less evil than Lenin because Hitler only targeted people he personally believed were harmful to society whereas Lenin targeted even those he himself didn’t believe were harmful in any way,” Volodzko wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
He followed up this post by explaining that he was only comparing the two by their intentions, not their actual atrocities.
“Hitler was more evil than Lenin if we’re looking at what they did to people and that’s a pretty important metric for assessing evil!” he wrote.
As Volodzko noted in his essay, this is the kind of topic one could debate in person, but not on Twitter. “And the argument I was making is a fraught one even under the best of circumstances—you don’t need to compare anyone to Hitler to argue that they are evil — and my delivery was poor, to say the least,” he wrote.
He was accused of “defending” Hitler and had his life threatened.
Six days later, Volodzko thought his job was safe after he was told the media outlet stood by him. But he was soon fired for “poor judgment” and “continuing to engage online.” After he was terminated, the paper issued an apology statement that appeared to contradict that reasoning.
“An editorial writer engaged in Twitter recently in a way that is inconsistent with our company values,” the paper wrote. “We apologize for any pain we have caused our readers, our employees and the community.”
Volodzko is now trying to earn income through his Substack, “<a href="https://volodzko.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Radicalist</a>,” in which he covers political extremism from communism to fascism and the cancel culture environment of which he is a recent victim.
On Saturday, Elon Musk announced that his company – which he has renamed X – would fight for anyone punished by an employer for their actions on his platform.
“If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill,” Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-vows-to-go-to-war-against-companies-that-punish-employees-for-activity-on-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. “No limit. Please let us know.”
Volodzko responded to the tweet with his Substack essay, and Musk eventually responded by saying: “This does sound like a good case.”
It is unclear whether anything will come of Musk’s response, and any action would not be immediate for Volodzko and his family, but it does provide some hope.

Statue of Vladimir Lenin

Seattle Times Editorial Board Member Fired After Comparing Lenin And Hitler On Twitter

Adolf Hitler

Cancel Culture

Twitter

Vladimir Lenin

Two student health centers at Seattle public schools offer &#8220;gender affirming care&#8221; for free to middle and high schoolers.
The Nova Wellness Center is <a href="https://novahs.seattleschools.org/resources/school-nurse/nova-wellness-center/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">located</a> in Nova High School, while the Meany Health Center is <a href="https://meanyms.seattleschools.org/resources/school-nurse/meany-health-center/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">located</a> in Meany Middle School. Both centers list gender affirming care as an available service.
They are operated by Country Doctor Community Health Centers, a local nonprofit that says it offers cross-sex hormones and gender surgery referrals.
Country Doctor says it offers medications like estrogen, androgen blockers, and testosterone, including hormone therapy for adolescents and &#8220;specialty referrals for younger patients as needed.&#8221;
&#8220;We do not provide puberty blockers at this time,&#8221; Country Doctor says.
The nonprofit also provides surgery referrals for genital and other gender surgeries and helps obtain mental health letters of support for gender procedures and behavioral counseling.
&#8220;Our mission is to promote health in transgender, non-binary and gender diverse communities through ensuring equal access to gender-affirming medications and procedures, and training staff to be trauma-informed and culturally responsive,&#8221; Country Doctor <a href="https://cdchc.org/specialized-care/#gender-affirmingcare" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a> on its website.
It&#8217;s unclear whether every service listed on Country Doctor Community Health Centers&#8217; website is offered at the nonprofit&#8217;s two in-school health centers in Seattle.
Parents Defending Education <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/seattle-public-schools-school-based-health-centers-offer-middle-and-high-school-students-access-to-gender-affirming-care-that-includes-hormone-therapy-and-referrals-for-surgeries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first sounded</a> the alarm about the Seattle public school health centers offering transgender services to students.
&#8220;The Nova Wellness Center offers no cost comprehensive, trauma-informed, and gender affirming care, conveniently at the school,&#8221; the Nova Wellness Center <a href="https://novahs.seattleschools.org/resources/school-nurse/nova-wellness-center/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a> on the school&#8217;s official website. The Meany Health Center also touts offering its &#8220;medical and behavioral health services at no cost, conveniently at the school.&#8221;
Both health centers say they bill services to insurance if students have it, and there are never any co-pays to worry about, but they also offer services to students and families without insurance.
The Meany Middle School health center also says it is partially funded through the Seattle government&#8217;s Family and Education <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/three-months-into-seattles-new-600-million-plus-education-levy-where-has-the-money-been-going/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Levy</a>. The Nova High School health center says it is staffed by a full-time clinic administrator, medical providers, and a behavioral health specialist.
Both school health centers say they also offer &#8220;reproductive&#8221; health care as well.
Seattle Public Schools has a policy stating that staff &#8220;should not disclose&#8221; a student&#8217;s gender identity to others unless legally required to do so or the student has given permission for their gender identity to be revealed.
&#8220;Further, when contacting the parents/guardians of a transgender or gender X student and it is unclear whether the student asserts the same gender identity at home, it is best practice to avoid using gender pronouns,&#8221; the Seattle school policy <a href="https://www.seattleschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/I09_20200624_Approval-of-new-BP-No.-3211-Gender-Inclusive-Schools.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states.</a>
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Cross-sex hormones come with serious health risks. They can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-young-people-in-u-s-have-nearly-doubled-recently-report-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cause</a> infertility, deadly blood clots, heart attacks, increased cancer risks of the breasts and ovaries, liver dysfunction, worsening psychological illness, and other serious conditions.
Hundreds of teen girls in the U.S., some as young as 12, <a href="https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/101252?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2022-10-17&amp;eun=g394940d0r&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Evening%202022-10-17&amp;utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have gotten</a> elective, gender-related double mastectomies to remove their healthy breasts over the last few years.
Meanwhile, it is more popular than ever for youth to adopt new gender identities. An estimated 300,000 minors aged 13 to 17 <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/transgender-estimate-press-release/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identified</a> as transgender as of last year.

Seattle School Bus Delivers Lunches To Kids During Coronavirus Shutdown

Seattle Public School Students Get Free ‘Gender Affirming Care’ At Campus Health Centers

Seattle Public School Students Get Free 'Gender Affirming Care' At Campus Health Centers

Gender

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday again denied West Coast cities the ability to remove homeless people from the streets unless they can provide enough shelter for all of them.
The court <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-judges-oregon-ruling-homelessness-unconstitutional-1811615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declined</a> to rehear a case involving the Oregon city Grant&#8217;s Pass, meaning a lower court&#8217;s ruling in July 2020 against the city will remain in effect.
The lower court&#8217;s decision in the case, Johnson v. Grants Pass, said that Grant&#8217;s Pass cannot have ordinances against homeless people camping or sleeping outside in public areas because this violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits excessive punishments. The fines for violating such ordinances also violate the Eighth Amendment, the court ruled.
Judge Roslyn Silver <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-judges-oregon-ruling-homelessness-unconstitutional-1811615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in the court&#8217;s opinion declining to hear the case again that the number of homeless people in Grants Pass is higher than the available shelter beds.
Three conservative justices slammed the appeals court&#8217;s decision in dissents.
Justice Daniel Bress, a Trump appointee, argued that by citing the Eighth Amendment, the court has hamstrung local authorities and said the homelessness problem even extends to the Ninth Circuit&#8217;s doorstep.
&#8220;Looking out the windows of the Ninth Circuit&#8217;s courthouse in San Francisco, one sees the most difficult problems plaguing big-city America on display. Homelessness, drug addiction, barely concealed narcotics dealing, severe mental health impairment, the post-COVID hollowing out of our business districts,&#8221; Bress <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-judges-oregon-ruling-homelessness-unconstitutional-1811615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in his dissent.
Conservative Ninth Circuit justice Milan Smith Jr., called homelessness the &#8220;defining public health and safety crisis&#8221; in the western states and said &#8220;unelected federal judges&#8221; are acting like &#8220;homelessness policy czars.&#8221;
&#8220;There are stretches of [Los Angeles] where one cannot help but think the government has shirked its most basic responsibilities under the social contract: providing public safety and ensuring that public spaces remain open to all,&#8221; Smith <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/9th-circuit-court-orders-cities-and-towns-cannot-force-homeless-people-off-the-street/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Another Trump appointee, Justice Daniel Collins, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-judges-oregon-ruling-homelessness-unconstitutional-1811615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the court&#8217;s rulings in this case and another 2018 homelessness case should be &#8220;overturned or overruled at the earliest opportunity, either by this court sitting en banc or by the U.S. Supreme Court.&#8221;
The other case is Martin v. City of Boise, in which the Ninth Circuit ruled that if a homeless person has no option to sleep inside, a city cannot cite the person for violating an ordinance against sleeping outside in a public area.
Homelessness in major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as many smaller cities dotting the western coast has only gotten worse since before the pandemic. Harrowing scenes of homeless people engaging in open-air drug use and living in filth on city streets continue to come out of the neighborhoods most in need of help.
In Los Angeles, homelessness is up 10% this year, <a href="https://www.lahsa.org/news?article=927-lahsa-releases-results-of-2023-greater-los-angeles-homeless-count#:~:text=LOS%20ANGELES%20%E2%80%93%20The%202023%20Greater,to%20an%20estimated%2046%2C260%20people." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the latest count, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-homelessness-up-10-2023-count-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> last month. Los Angeles County’s homeless population rose to about 75,518 people, up from 69,144 in 2022.
In the Bay Area, about 38,000 people <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rising-crime-homelessness-leave-residents-of-san-francisco-and-oakland-on-edge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are homeless</a> on a given night, up 35% since 2019. More than 7,000 people are homeless in San Francisco itself. Crime as well as open-air drug use often comes with the homeless issue, causing businesses to flee San Francisco’s downtown, where foot traffic has thinned.

US-HOMELESS-LOS ANGELES-SOCIETY-POVERTY-CRISIS

Ninth Circuit Again Refuses To Let West Coast Cities Remove Homeless People Until They Provide Shelter For All

9th Circuit

California

Oregon

Portland

San Francisco

A federal judge ordered a Korean-American women’s spa with compulsory nudity to admit men who identify as women, even if they have intact penises, in a decision on Monday.
Olympus Spa <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12176407/Washington-womens-spa-compulsory-nudity-ordered-judge-start-admitting-trans-women.html">attempted</a> to sue the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC) after being ordered to remove any mention of &#8220;biological women&#8221; from their website and to admit transgender men without question. Senior District Judge Barbara Rothstein <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/washington/wawdce/2:2022cv00340/308441/21/">dismissed</a> the lawsuit, upholding the WSHRC’s orders as legal and requiring the spa to comply.
Haven Wilvich, a man who identifies as a woman, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/06/09/women-only-spa-must-welcome-naked-trans-clients-with-penises/">complained</a> to the WSHRC in 2020 and claimed the spa declined his membership request. Wilvich alleged that the spa said, “transgender women without surgery are not welcome.” The spa disputed this claim, stating they had no record of an application.
The family-owned spa is modeled on jjimjilbang — traditional sex-segregated bathhouses in Korea. The spa only admitted trans-identified men if they had “gone through post-operative sex confirmation surgery.”  
In March 2021, the WSHRC served spa owner Myoon Woon Lee with a Notice of Complaint of Discrimination. The spa&#8217;s president, Sun Lee, explained to the commission that Olympus was a family-owned “women’s Korean traditional health spa” that required nudity for certain treatments.
“We firmly believe it is essential for the safety, legal protection, and well-being of our customers and employees that we maintain adherence to this adaptation of a females-only rule,” Lee wrote. 
The president also educated the board on the traditions of Jjimjilbang, arguing that the spa had “worked so hard over many years to build and preserve, simply for the sake of promoting gender neutrality.”
Both the owner and the president <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/washington/wawdce/2:2022cv00340/308441/21/">said</a> they were Christian and cited their faith — the Christian belief in modesty between the sexes — as a reason why they did not wish to accept biological males into the women’s nude spa. Employees also involved in the suit — all of whom were women — <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/07/washington-womens-only-spa-must-serve-trans-patrons-with-male-genitals-judge-rules/">refused</a> to perform body scrubs on naked men, citing Christian principles as well. The District Court rejected their religious liberty claim.
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The court upheld the WSHRC&#8217;s requirement that the spa <a href="https://reduxx.info/korean-womens-spa-forced-to-erase-biological-women-from-policy-after-trans-identified-male-complaint/">removes</a> all references to biological women from their site and subject their staff to “inclusivity” training. The spa challenged this as &#8220;compelled speech&#8221; in violation of the First Amendment, which Rothstein also rejected. The court rejected the spa&#8217;s third argument, which claimed that the WSHRC&#8217;s requirement of admitting men violated the right of association.
After the WSHRC ruling in 2021, Wilvich <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12176407/Washington-womens-spa-compulsory-nudity-ordered-judge-start-admitting-trans-women.html">celebrated</a> on social media, saying the order allowed “all self-identified women access regardless of surgery and genitals.” 
“I realized something important today. I‘m more woman than any TERF [trans-exclusionary radical feminist] will be because I am an intentional woman whereas they are only incidental,” Wilvich also said.
Before Wilvich began to transition, he sat on the board of the Seattle Nonbinary Collective, describing himself as a “tall, bearded, transfemme, King County native,” according to the Daily Mail.

Beauty Diversity Faces. Multi Ethnic Women Caucasian, African and Asian. Three Woman Profile with different Skin Type and Color over White Isolated. Facial Care Cosmetics and Make up

Christian Korean Women-Only Spa Ordered To Admit Naked Trans Clients

Christian Korean Women-Only Spa Ordered To Admit Naked Trans Clients With Penises

Courts

Women's Rights

The bizarre, testicle removal surgery at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/matt-walsh-undercover-investigation-catches-trans-health-care-providers-falsifying-patient-info-to-fast-track-sex-change-surgeries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">center of a Daily Wire investigation</a> made news a year ago, when a report revealed an underground clinic in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington</a> where two transgender-identifying activists specialized in combining the procedure with firearms training.
Over a decade ago, orchiectomy, a procedure used sometimes in cases of testicular cancer, used to be more difficult to obtain for men who identified as women, reportedly leading them to turn to underground clinics to have their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender-surgery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testicles removed</a>. 
Today, the procedure is easy to schedule. According to a new report from Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, a gender-confused man looking to have the procedure can get cleared for the surgery in less than 30 minutes. Gregg Re, a producer for Walsh, got approval for the procedure after just a 22-minute virtual appointment with Plume, the largest transgender healthcare provider in the U.S. 
The procedure can be associated with increased mental health problems, including anxiety, <a href="https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/aftercareinformation/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=ud1352#:~:text=It%20is%20common%20to%20feel,other%20resources%20that%20can%20help." target="_blank" rel="noopener">depression</a>, and <a href="https://www.urotoday.com/library-resources/a-patient-journey/129050-testicular-cancer-awareness-month-a-focus-on-implications-of-mental-health-among-testicular-cancer-survivors.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stress</a>. 
The ease of approval today presents a stark contrast with the past when the procedure was more restricted, and radical transgender activists paired crude surgical techniques with gun training. 
According to a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trans-history-underground-sugical-clinic-b2114777.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report in the Independent</a> from July 2022, two transgender-identifying men ran a “secret underground transgender surgical clinic” from 2004-2006 in rural Washington. To perform the surgeries, they reportedly used equipment that they purchased on eBay, including an autoclave and a cauterization machine. 
One of the organizers told the Independent that the clinic, though secret, was legal and approved by state health officials. 
&#8220;We wanted to make sure that folks would never get a bill in their old name – simple things like that. They would be able to wake up and be surrounded by trans folks who knew how to take care of them, how to treat them. Never have to worry about getting misgendered. Never have to worry about &#8216;what&#8217;s your real name?&#8217; Never have to worry about any of that,” said Eilís Ní Fhlannagáin, who helped run the clinic which was known as the “ball barn.” 
Ní Fhlannagáin, who reportedly had his testicles removed in a living room, offered orchiectomy surgeries to between 14-16 individuals in the mid-2000s for only $500, a discount from the going rate of somewhere between $2,000-$5,000 at the time. 
The underground clinic did require letters from social workers before they would remove their client&#8217;s testicles. After surgery, they offered to train their clients with AR-15s.
According to Ní Fhlannagáin, a jar with a pair of testicles was once left lying around from an operation right before state officials showed up. Ní Fhlannagáin hid the jar from the officials who were looking to verify business logs and other documentation. 
&#8220;When a cis bureaucrat is getting in your face, and you want them to disappear, say the words &#8216;transgender&#8217; and &#8216;transsexual&#8217; as loud as possible and as many times as possible,&#8221; Ní Fhlannagáin said. &#8220;They get very uncomfortable and they back away.&#8221;
While Ní Fhlannagáin said the clinic got approval from the officials, the “ball barn” eventually closed down in 2006. 
The Washington clinic echoed back to another infamous case back in the 1980s when a San Francisco surgeon named John Ronald Brown also ran <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-24-mn-1156-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an underground</a> sex-change operation before he was convicted of medical malpractice in 1990 and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/health/psychology/at-war-with-their-bodies-they-seek-to-sever-limbs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">murder following</a> the death of a man who asked him to cut off his leg because of a &#8220;sexual craving.&#8221;
As Walsh’s investigation demonstrated, the procedures once done off the grid in rural Washington and California have become increasingly widespread with transgender health services making it easier to get approval for such life-altering procedures.

Surgeon picking up surgical tool from tray

Package Deal: The Bizarre Sex-Change Op At Center Of Daily Wire Investigation Once Came With Gun Training

How The Bizarre Sex-Change Op At Center Of Daily Wire Investigation Once Came With Gun Training

Matt Walsh

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