LGBTQ at Ohio State

Know Your Rights and Legal Support

Know Your Rights

Student Legal Services

Student Legal Services offers guidance on Rights and Resources for Students During Protests, which covers your rights as a protester, including if you are stopped by the police while protesting. 

Lambda Legal

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBTQ people and those living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. The organization provides many guides on the rights of LGBTQ folks and those living with HIV.

Check out their Know Your Rights guide, which provides information and resources for: LGBTQ employees, transgender people, people living with HIV, LGBTQ teens and young adults, and those involved in the court system.

Lambda Legal also provides a state-by-state guide to your rights. Make sure you Know Your Rights in Ohio.

Toolkits

  • Transgender Rights Toolkit: This toolkit is meant to be a resource and advocacy tool designed to educate and empower a community often left outside the walls of power.

  • Transgender College Students: This fact sheet is intended to inform transgender students of their rights on campus and to show what advocates are doing to help make colleges and universities more affirming of, and welcoming to, transgender students.

  • Out At Work: A Tool Kit for Workplace Equality

  • Take the Power: Tools for Life and Financial Planning

National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)

NCTE offers trans-specfic Know Your Rights resources related to: airport security, employment, health care, housing, immigration, Medicare, military records, passports, public accommodations, restroom access, schools, social security, and survivors of violence.

ACLU of Ohio

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio serves to champion and expand fundamental rights and to pursue racial, economic, gender, and social equity for all Ohioans. ALCU of Ohio provides Know Your Rights resources, including on topics such as, What to Do if You're Stopped by the Police and Protesters: Know Your Rights.

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

AAUW serves to advance gender equity through research, education, and advocacy. The organization provides resources for women and those of other genders who were assigned female at birth. AAUW offers Know Your Rights resources, such as Know Your Rights at Work and Know Your Rights on Campus.

Reproductive Rights

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services manages the resource Know Your Rights: Reproductive Health Care, which is regularly updated.

Civic Engagement

Voting

Visit VoteOhio.gov for comprehensive resources and services related to voting in Ohio, including:

Ohio allows for early in-person voting at a designated location per county. The Franklin County Board of Elections provides information on early voting.

Voter Resources 

  • Campus Vote Project works with universities, community colleges, faculty, students and election officials to reduce barriers to student voting. Check out their Student Voting Guide for Ohio for information on voter registration requirements and considerations, ID requirements, voting methods, election dates, common questions, and more. 

  • HeadCount is an organization that values civic participation as a core foundation of any functioning society. The organization offers Trans People Vote, a guide for trans and non-binary voters. 

  • OSU Votes is a student-led movement at Ohio State to register, educate, and encourage other students to vote. This resource offers Voter Resources, Student Voter FAQs, and workshops.

Being an Informed Voter

  • The ACLU tracks anti-LGBTQ bills in the US. You can use this tool to learn about current anti-LGBTQ bills in Ohio.

  • Plural offers tools to track bills at federal and state levels, review legislation, and see how your representatives are voting.

  • You can review judicial candidates with resources from Judicial Votes Count.

Legal Support

Student Legal Services (SLS): a full service Columbus law firm for Ohio State students, providing legal advice and representation for criminal defense, landlord-tenant, and much more. (Note: to be eligible for services, you must remain enrolled in the SLS program for the participation year in which you are seeking services.)

Lambda Legal Help Desk: provides information and resources relating to discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and HIV status. (Note: Lambda Legal's Help Desk cannot provide legal advice, and your communication to our Help Desk does not establish an attorney-client relationship.)