When Equality Ohio introduced their legal clinic in 2019, the goal was to fill a gap.
In one space, LGBTQ+ organizations were doing broad impact litigation work, but not necessarily representing everyday LGBTQ+ Ohioans.
In another space, community legal aides didn’t always have a keen understanding of the intricacies of LGBTQ+ identities and thus could not provide the best representation possible for their LGBTQ+ clients.
“The legal clinic was born to basically fill that gap and provide free legal services to folks who are LGBTQ-identified Ohioans and who are below 300% of the federal poverty line,” said Kate Mozynski, director of legal advocacy for Equality Ohio.
Now, seven years later and under a vastly different landscape of legal protections for LGBTQ+ Ohioans, Equality Ohio has launched a survey to check in with the community to ensure the clinic’s services are the ones most needed..
“2026 is very, very different from 2019,” said Mozynski. “It’s really important to the legal clinic staff that we listen to the community, and not be basing our practice areas on data from 2019 when we’re in such a different world now than we were then.”
Adjusting their approach
The Equality Ohio legal clinic has represented thousands of LGBTQ+ clients since its launch. It stands alongside Free State Justice in Maryland as one of only two legal clinics in the Equality Federation, the network of over 50 state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations.
Equality Ohio named sustaining the clinic as one of their top three priorities in the two-year strategic plan released in February. In addition to the clinic’s free legal services, Equality Ohio Executive Director Dwayne Steward announced that the clinic would serve as a social enterprise for the organization: Individuals can hire an attorney from the clinic for fee-for-service work.
“We are so proud that for the first time in our agency’s history, the work of our historic legal clinic will be represented in our mission,” said executive director Dwayne Steward in a video.
One thing is for sure: community need for the legal clinic has markedly increased since President Trump’s re-election. Before November 2024, the legal clinic received around 50 new intake requests a month. In November 2024, that number ballooned to 147.
“We needed to adjust our model to meet community needs,” said Mozynski.
That adjustment came in the form of regular pop-up legal clinics, in which the legal clinic partnered with TransOhio, volunteer attorneys who have been recruited and trained, local organizations across Ohio and local courts.
Participants in the pop-up clinics are able to pick the level of legal support they need, whether it be brief advice on a situation they are experiencing, paperwork completion with an attorney, someone to walk them over to a clerk’s office to file a document or a referral to the legal clinic for a full-scope direct representation.
“Say you’ve got a minor seeking a name change where one parent agrees and one parent doesn’t, and it’s going to be more of a complicated thing; we can step in with full-scope direct representation and take that client through representing them through the court process,” said Mozynski. “Since November of 2024, we have served more than 1,400 Ohioans at the pop-up clinics.”
The largest number of current requests have been legal name changes and gender-marker corrections where they’re available.
Assessing the need
With the launch of the community survey, legal clinic staff hope to gather as much data as possible about LGBTQ+ Ohioans’ lived experiences as well as legal and social support needs.
“This is about the community telling us what they need, and us adopting our legal clinic services to meet that need,” said Mozynski.
The survey takes around five minutes to complete, and individuals can either fill it out online or at any of the Pride celebrations where Equality Ohio will have a table this summer. The survey will be open until September.
As LGBTQ+ Ohioans continue to experience legislative and legal attacks, Mozynski highlighted that the legal clinic is one part of Ohio’s LGBTQ+ movement ecosystem and that everyone has a role in the broader movement towards liberation for all Ohioans.
“My role is as a lawyer and I can do things as a lawyer,” said Mozynski. “But maybe someone else’s role is that they make a really great pasta salad to bring to the barbecue for everybody, and that’s just as valid. That’s what community is for, and we’ve gotta take care of each other, especially now.” 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- Take the Equality Ohio Legal Needs Assessment by clicking here.
- LGBTQ+ Ohioans seeking legal support can call 855-LGBT-LAW (855-542-8529) or fill out an intake form to be connected to legal clinic staff.
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