President Biden, Congressional Equality Caucus, mark Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR). The President’s statement marking TDOR mourned trans lives that were taken this year and wrote that Americans must “recommit ourselves to building a country where everyone is afforded [dignity and respect],” and the CEC introduced a House Resolution commemorating TDOR. Nancy Mace (SC-1) introduces anti-trans bathroom ban bill. The legislation would ban trans women from using women’s restrooms, lockerrooms, and other sex-segregated spaces on federal property. This follows an earlier resolution Mace introduced to ban trans women from using women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol. Speaker Johnson (LA-4) announces anti-trans bathroom ban for U.S. Capitol complex. The Speaker announced that trans women are not permitted to use bathrooms and other sex-segregated spaces in the Capitol that match their gender identity. The policy will also apply to bathrooms and other sex-segregated facilities in House office buildings. House passes HR 9495, giving the government power to punish non-profits deemed to support ‘terrorism.’ The bill gives the Treasury Department the power to strip non-profits it claims support “terrorism” of their tax-exempt status. The Treasury Department is not required to adhere to any evidentiary standard when making these determinations. LCCHR opposes the bill. Sarah McBride “incredibly grateful” to be elected to Congress. Representative-elect McBride is the first openly trans person to be elected to Congress. She spoke to Chris Hayes about her election and the anti-trans ads the Trump campaign pushed out to voters. Police report details rape allegation against Trump Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. A woman filed a report with the Monterey Police Department in 2017 accusing Hegseth of raping her in his hotel room where the both were attending a conference. Hegseth is one of two current nominees Trump has named to cabinet positions that are accused of sexual misconduct. Matt Gaetz withdraws himself from consideration for Attorney General. Gaetz, formerly a Republican Representative from Florida, was accused of sexual misconduct before being selected as Trump’s Attorney General nominee. Those sexual misconduct allegations, including allegations he had sex with a 17-year-old, as well as other alleged crimes, were the subject of an ethics investigation in the House. CDC report shows syphilis infections declining, especially among gay and bisexual men. After rising for many years, diagnoses of primary and secondary syphilis dropped 10% last year, to 53,000 cases. The decline was driven by a 13% drop in such syphilis diagnoses among gay and bisexual men, who have historically accounted for nearly half of syphilis infections. Infectious disease specialists believe the drop in infections may be linked to gay and bisexual men using the oral antibiotic doxycycline for STI prevention. | 
