Two decades after founding Vision Cathedral of Atlanta, Bishop O.C. Allen III says the church’s work is more urgent than ever. The LGBTQ-affirming Black Pentecostal congregation, which first gathered in his living room and now fills a sprawling sanctuary every Sunday, has become both a spiritual home and a civic hub at a time when queer and trans people are facing escalating political attacks across the South and the nation at large.

As Congress nears a January deadline to pass a continuing resolution and avert a government shutdown, critical health programs hang in the balance. The now-expired Affordable Care Act subsidies and proposed cuts to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program could undermine access to lifesaving services and medications, including Lenacapavir, a breakthrough drug offering new hope in the fight against HIV.

A year into President Donald Trump’s second term, Amnesty International and a coalition of U.S. and international rights groups are warning that the United States is exhibiting clear signs of democratic backsliding, marked by the erosion of civil liberties, weakened rule of law, and the normalization of coercive state power.