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.

New York City police are searching for the person who attacked a man on a subway train the evening of January 10 when the man was kissing his transgender female partner. The attacker shouted homophobic slurs and then slashed the right side of the man’s face with a sharp object, Gay City News reports.

A former employee of the Pittsburgh Steelers has taken the football team to court, alleging she faced discrimination on the job due to her sex and sexual orientation.