Federal court rules new Texas Congressional maps unconstitutional. A three-judge panel ruled on November 18th that Texas’s newly drawn Congressional map is likely an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and that the previous map enacted after the 2020 Census would need to be used in next year’s midterms. Fired FBI employee sues, claiming dismissal was illegal. David Maltinsky filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming he was fired for displaying a Pride flag at his desk in violation of his First Amendment rights. The Pride flag that Maltinsky displayed at his workspace was presented to him after it had previously been displayed outside the Bureau's federal office in Los Angeles. Congressional Equality Caucus sends Speaker Mike Johnson a letter urging him to condemn anti-trans rhetoric from members of Congress. The letter, signed by 213 representatives, calls out members of Congress for “demonizing and dehumanizing” language about transgender people and urges the Speaker to take action to protect the transgender community from harassment and discriminatory rhetoric. Rep. Robert Garcia, Sen. Ed Markey reintroduce bill to promote LGBTQ+ equality abroad. The International Human Rights Defense Act directs the State Department “to monitor and respond to violence against LGBTQ+ people worldwide, while creating a comprehensive plan to combat discrimination, criminalization, and hate-motivated attacks against LGBTQ+ communities” and creates a special envoy to coordinate LGBTQ+ policy across the Department. Trump signs bill requiring Justice Department to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The bill, which passed nearly unanimously in both houses of Congress following a successful discharge petition in the House, requires the Attorney General to release all unclassified documents related to Epstein within 30 days. Education Department announces it is moving multiple agencies to other departments. Officials announced that six offices within the department would be shifted elsewhere. This follows a March Presidential Executive Order that sought to close the department; only Congress can eliminate a federal department. Trump Administration wrongly deports trans woman in violation of court order. The Administration acknowledged that they “inadvertently” deported Britania Uriostegui Rios, a transgender woman, to Mexico. A March court order protected Rios from deportation, finding she was likely to face torture if she was returned to Mexico. Coast Guard reverses course, drops plan to stop classifying swastikas and nooses as hate symbols. In a document published on Nov. 14th, the Coast Guard stated that both swastikas and nooses would no longer be classified as hate symbols, and instead would be classified as merely “potentially divisive.” Following public backlash on November 20th, the Coast Guard released a firmer policy stating that “Divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited,” unequivocally banning the display of swastikas, nooses, and other symbols from all coast guard locations. PEPFAR delivers first dose of new HIV prevention drug to two Sub-Saharan African countries. The State Department announced that PEPFAR delivered the first doses of Lenacapavir to Eswatini and Zambia. | 
