The anticipated barrage of attacks on the trans community has already begun. Last week Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced a resolution aimed at Representative-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE), that bans trans people from using bathrooms aligned with their gender. Her statements are steeped in a pseudo-scientific “bioessentialism” that has been repeatedly debunked. The rest of the far right quickly piled on — Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced rules immediately implementing the bathroom. Further emboldened, Mace announced that she had filed a bill that further attacks and endangers trans people; the bill would implement these same rules across all federal buildings nationwide, including national parks, every Social Security Administration office in the country, all military facilities (including the housing and support facilities serving personnel and their dependents), the Smithsonian museums, Washington DC district parks, DC government buildings, and Washington National Airport (DCA).

Next week, on Wednesday, December 4, the Supreme Court will be hearing arguments in United States vs Skrmetti, the case challenging the Tennessee ban on gender affirming health care for minors. Organizers are planning a rally outside the Court from 10am to 1pm. This is the first action in the wake of the vile attacks on McBride, and in this moment all socialists and allies must, and will, stand tall with their comrades as they rally in solidarity with their trans siblings and children in demand of their rights to bodily autonomy and freedom to determine what is right for themselves.

Now is the time to let the venal and worthless liberal establishment know that their cowardly silence and failure to support Rep. McBride has been seen and heard, and that comrades demand they find their sorely missing moral backbone and stand up to the hate, intolerance, and evil spewing from the fascist kakistocrats. Rally-goers will be meeting at 9:30am near the Supreme Court before proceeding as a group to the rally. RSVP to the rally at the Supreme Court here to defend trans freedom; organizers will be providing details on the meetup spot and logistics early next week.

In town over the long weekend? Looking to come together with comrades to share a meal? Metro DC DSA Community Builders is hosting a Community Friendsgiving for members and friends next Saturday, November 30 at 5pm. Friends, family, or DSA-curious acquaintances are all welcome and encouraged to join. Participants are also encouraged to bring a dish to share. There will be games, drinks, and plenty of food for everyone. The venue has a large fridge, microwave, oven, and sink available for guests to use.

RSVP for the address.

Recently the chapter held a Special Meeting for the second reading of the Resolution to Endorse Shayla Adams-Stafford in the Prince George’s County Council District 5 special election, where comrades debated the resolution after interviewing the candidate. Voting is open from now until 11:59pm on Tuesday, December 3. Ballots include the resolution as well as member statements for and against. You can view endorsement materials like the questionnaire and the recording of the Q&A session here, along with the member statements. You may need to log into the member portal to view the page.

Your ballot email has the subject line “Resolution to Endorse Shayla Adams-Stafford for PG-5 County Council” and the sender is “OpaVote Voting Link.” The ballot closes on Tuesday, December 3 at 11:59pm. Per our Chapter bylaws, ballots were sent to members in good standing (dues-paying members since October 20, 2024 — 30 days before the meeting where the resolution was debated) and all dues-paying members who attended the resolution debate meeting on November 19. If you cannot find your ballot, or think you didn’t receive a ballot and should have, first check your spam folder, then reach out to #helpdesk or #steering in Slack, or email [email protected].

Want to learn about the software we use for convention? Want to help our hardworking administrators be prepared to run it, and crucially, be able to fix it? Do you perhaps even want to learn how to run it yourself at some point to help keep our chapter’s democracy vibrant? If so, then come to our OpenSlides practice next Sunday. Chapter members will be able to go through the basics of OpenSlides and how it interacts with Robert’s Rules of Order, and then go through a draft of our agenda to make sure everything functions smoothly. With only three hours, a full dress rehearsal is impossible, but interested comrades will be able to get in a lot of practice that could pay huge dividends at this and future conventions. RSVP for the practice session here.

Join comrades of the Montgomery County branch of Metro DC DSA at their virtual monthly branch meeting this Sunday, December 1 from 2 – 4pm. The meeting will include a brief introduction to the MoCo branch, updates on ongoing campaign work, and discussion over ideas for branch campaigns for 2025. Current proposal submissions include: passing rent stabilization in the city of Rockville, dropping county funding for the Maryland Israel Development Corporation, and advocating for an anti-austerity “People’s Budget” that would include multiple budget demands, including dropping the MIDC. There will also be an optional social happy hour from 4:30 – 5:30pm at World of Beer in Rockville. These monthly branch meetings are for all DSA members who live, work, or organize in Montgomery County, as well as for anyone curious about DSA. RSVP for the branch meeting here.

Join the Green New Deal in DC coalition — which includes Metro DC DSA’s very own GND working group — in Mt Pleasant to be in community with each other, talk about the successes and challenges of this year, and to celebrate each other and our work pushing for a Green New Deal in the District. We are asking our community to support us into 2025 as we push forward. No matter the circumstances, our organizing work never ends. Come hang out and support our work and what comes next. RSVP for the fundraiser here, which is to be held at Don Juan Restaurant (1660 Lamont St NW) at 6pm on Tuesday, December 17.

Learn more about our local MDC DSA chapter — structure, campaigns and working groups, Night School, and reading groups — HERE. And live from our studio, Wednesday, December 4, 7 – 8pm, Why You Should Join DSA/New Member Orientation (with Q&A).

MDC DSA members: Join our all-member Slack for real-time info on working group and campaign events, convo, and inspiration. Email [email protected] with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get Slack access. Chapter members are also invited to read — and edit — MDC DSA’s internal wiki. Email [email protected] to get set up, or ask in #helpdesk.

MDC DSA Publications is information central for not only MDC DSA but the entire DMV left and is always ready to onboard new socialist communicators; #publications is our working group’s Slack channel. Weekly Updates like this one are scheduled and emailed on Fridays; current and past Updates are on the web here. Not subscribed? DSA member or not, sign up to get the Update here. Submit your Update suggestions or chapter political blog REDBUG tips to our tip line. The Washington Socialist, published since the 1970s, offers articles on a quarterly schedule; the Fall 2024 edition is now live and will be updated on a rolling basis. Next issue’s deadline is December 6. Check our archive to see what we write — and what you can write. Anyone, MDC DSA member or not, interested in contributing to the Washington Socialist can email submissions or questions to [email protected]. Get your socialist self on the record. Donate to our Comradery page if you would like to financially support socialist publishing in the DMV.

Democratic Socialist Post-Election Musings

A longtime member and former elected rehearses some important history and argues “DSA… has also struggled with the more immediate, public, and arguably more important question of working out a tenable relationship with those members holding elected political office. While the organization encourages members to seek office and benefits from their successes, it understandably does not want to be associated with public figures with markedly divergent politics. At the same time, office-holding members are answerable to their electorate, not DSA. In the light of some recent experiences on this front, [Sen. Bernie] Sanders’s non-joiner stance starts to look somewhat prescient. DSA’s long-term relevance will depend on its ability to carve out a meaningful role as a socialist organization that is not and does not aspire to being a political party.” from Medium via Portside

Republicans Freak Out Over Trump’s Choice for Labor Secretary

“Former GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination puts the economic populist wing of the Republican Party on a collision course with more traditional Republicans, who have always been on the side of company bosses. She embodies the contradiction that is the Trump coalition. It won political power with widespread support from blue-collar workers but has up until this point looked poised to hand the federal government over to business-friendly billionaires. In fact, Chavez-DeRemer, the daughter of a Teamster, has such a pro-union record that some Republicans are in a full-blown panic about her nomination.” NYT via Portside

As D.C.’s home rule faces fresh threats in TrumpWorld, some important history

The 51st ran an important article on the history of home rule, noting as well the many instances of federal government interference with local DC governance. Prior to home rule’s passage by Congress in 1973 (which the 51st only touches on), the District was virtually run by the Board of Trade (all older white businessmen) — so home rule, with all its limitations represented an enormous advance. And while there are many sources of the struggle for home rule (DC Statehood was a demand made at SNCC’s founding convention), a key factor behind that decision took place after the District went up in flames following King’s assassination in 1968. This article’s politics reflect a mixture of good-faith hope in what a compromising Mayor Bowser could achieve; its value, however, lies in its narrative of events post-1971. Kurt S

Maryland has its own history of slavery, white supremacy, and lynching – reminders are never too far away

As initially reported in Intersection, a Calvert County neighborhood saw an incident where someone just weeks ago hung “a black human-like figure from a tree” on a nearby property. Town officials had done little to see to its removal at the time of Intersection’s report. The complicated sequence of events in the story (before and after the Intersection’s report) was developed by Context newsletter. Kurt S

Saturday, November 30

5 – 8pm | Metro DC DSA Community Friendsgiving

Tuesday, December 3

6pm | NoVA Medicare for All Working Group

6:30 – 8pm | Welcome Committee Training and Outreach

Wednesday, December 4

6:45 – 8:15pm | Labor Working Group monthly meeting

7pm | Repro Justice Campaign Meeting

7 – 8pm | Why You Should Join DSA: New Member Orientation

Thursday, December 5

5pm | Social Housing Organizing Meeting

7pm | NoVA Electoral December Monthly Social

Saturday, December 7

12 – 6pm | December 2024 MDC DSA Local Convention (day one)

Sunday, December 8

4 – 8pm | December 2024 MDC DSA Local Convention (day two)

Monday, December 9

6 – 7pm | Abolition Working Group Biweekly Meeting

7pm | Trans/Queer Liberation Biweekly Meeting

Wednesday, December 11

7 – 8pm | Why You Should Join DSA/New Member Orientation

Friday, December 13

5 – 10pm | Labor December Happy Hour

Saturday, December 14

2:30 – 4pm | Street Team Monthly Meeting

Sunday, December 15

2 – 5pm | Labor Organizing School

7 – 8pm | MDC DSA Internationalism December Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, December 17

6:30 – 8pm | Root Causes of Armed Conflict in the Philippines

Thursday, December 19

6pm | Social Housing Organizing Meeting