Casey Parks

He was attacked on Jan. 6. Can he make sense of it for the kids he teaches? Nathan Tate was a D.C. police officer defending the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Now he’s trying to find the lesson in it.

My colleague @byelliesilverman.bsky.social has a great story out about Jan. 6. I don't want to give too much away, but you should definitely read this gift link: wapo.st/4jqPmQa

ok

Sexuality and gender are not the same. Roy did not express any romantic desire, so why should I call him a lesbian?

Roy never expressed any lesbian feelings in his journals. He considered himself a man.

So here she is, a silly and sometimes grumpy, resilient, Lady Gaga-adoring, nature-loving, earnest and sarcastic, smart-beyond-belief, desperate-for-affection teenager who wants to become a fire fighter. She is a girl who won a race and took on the ire of some of this country’s most powerful people.

Whatever your opinion is on trans girls in sports, I hope you'll spend some time with this story her life. I’m not a scientist, so I can’t settle the advantage question for certain, but I do believe that when adults boo a child, they should know more about the child they are booing.

For young transgender runner, racing wasn’t the hardest thing Verónica García overcame poverty to become a high school track champion — twice. It made her famous for all the wrong reasons.

A year and a half ago or so, I read that an entire stadium in Tacoma had booed a trans runner. I wanted to know more. She was 16, and she had stood on a podium in one of the country’s most liberal states and listened to 10,000 people boo her. What I learned surprised me:

wapo.st/49lnBUK

For young transgender runner, racing wasn’t the hardest thing Verónica García overcame poverty to become a high school track champion — twice. It made her famous for all the wrong reasons.

"The win had changed her life, but not in the ways she had hoped."

A devastating, deeply moving story by my dear friend @caseyparks.bsky.social about how poverty, politics, and cruelty shaped a trans teenage runner's world.

I think you just said the exact same thing I did -- it's a tough surgery.

If I'm wrong, please do let me know. But phallo is super rare, as far as I know. If Rep. Greene can point me to a teenager who has had that surgery, I would like to know.

Rep. Greene is also showing the forearm and thigh skin removals necessary for a phalloplasty, and she is suggesting teenagers are having this surgery. I have never heard of a single teen getting phallo. I honestly don't even know any adults IRL who have had one, as its a tough, imperfect surgery.

3,233 in 2020. That same year, there were 256 top surgeries on teenagers.

This bill would punish healthcare providers and parents with up to 10 years in prison if they offer or consent to puberty blockers, hormones or surgeries.

Rep. Greene and others frame this as about castration and genital mutilation, but much of their testimony today is not about the safety of the treatments but about their disapproval or disbelief that trans people exist at all. Nancy Mace just called the idea of being trans a demonic mind virus.

There are 43 million teenagers in the U.S. So fewer than 300 is ... the tiniest fraction imaginable.

In 2021, before any states banned the care, fewer than 300 teenagers a year had top surgery, according to a Reuters analysis. Since then, half of U.S. states have banned the care, and plenty of hospitals in blue states stopped offering gender surgeries, so the annual number now could be lower.

In discussing her "Protect Children's Innocence Act" / nationwide trans ban today, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene keeps referencing surgeries. Genital surgeries almost never happen on minors (I know of only one from the last decade) and top surgery is also rare. 1/

This would be a story about the one couple but also look at affordability issues, job markets, oppression, family connections, etc. Basically, with the right couple, I want to write something deep and meaningful and engaging to read.

I'm looking to follow a young couple as they decide whether to get married. I'd love to talk to people where one person in the couple is ready and the other thinks they need to have more financial stability. Think The Ultimatum but with data and facts instead of soap-y edits. Any leads?

Thanks, Abe!

I'd especially love to find someone setting up a little free fridge/pantry for the first time. I'm seeing lots of food bank and restaurant stories, but I know community members want to step up in other ways, and I'd love to document that! Particularly if the person has their own good story to tell

Portland: I'll be out Saturday documenting the fallout if SNAP does indeed not go out. Where should I go? Some of my coworkers are going to food banks, so I'm looking for different ideas.

Honestly, it seems like a lot of people are just there to get a selfie with the frogs.

Thank you, tireless KATU reporters and camera people for doing this service! I wish yall would do it as long as this goes on.

The frogs and friends are now listening to Cher.

We back!

Costumed protesters stand outside an ICE facility.

Sadly, KATU takes a 10 or 15-minute break every four hours, and that time is now. I was really glued to the plight of these frogs. They’re multiplying.

What happened to this one frog?

The right-wing influencers keep saying it’s crazier at night outside the Portland ICE facility and, well, chants of “frog! Frog! Frog!” have indeed broken out tonight.

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.