Support Rights for All
Civil rights aren't a settled chapter of history. They're a live, ongoing project that depends on people showing up, generation after generation. Right now, in Ohio and across the country, protections that took decades to win are being tested. This is the moment your voice, vote, and attention carry weight. You don't have to fix all of it, you just have to do your part.
Why does it matter?
The short version: civil rights are the laws that stop you from being treated worse because of who you are — your race, sex, religion, disability, or where you're from. Without them, "equal under the law" is just a slogan.
Some quick history: the 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination in jobs and public life. The 1965 Voting Rights Act protected the ballot. The 1968 Fair Housing Act banned housing discrimination. The 1990 ADA covered disability. 2015's Obergefell legalized same-sex marriage. 2020's Bostock ruling said firing someone for being gay or trans counts as sex discrimination. None of this happened automatically. People organized, sued, and voted for it.
Who's (supposed to be) protected by law: race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity in employment), disability, age (40+), and genetic information. Coverage isn't the same everywhere. Housing, jobs, schools, and voting each have their own rules, with their own gaps.
Why we're specifically talking about this now: civil rights don't stay protected on their own. They depend on staffed agencies that investigate complaints, courts that uphold precedent, and lawmakers who fund enforcement. When any of those pull back — which is happening right now (see below) — the law on paper stops matching what people can actually count on in real life. That gap is where people lose jobs, get denied housing, or get turned away from the ballot box with no real recourse.
The other side of this: some people argue that most major civil rights battles are already won, that today's anti-discrimination enforcement (like "disparate impact" rules) goes too far and punishes institutions for outcomes rather than actual intentional discrimination. They believe the federal government should scale back its role in favor of state and local control.
Resources:
Bending Toward Justice: 60 Years of Civil Rights Laws Protecting Workers in America - U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Voting Rights - Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice
Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act - U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act - U.S. Department of Justice and Civil Rights Division
Obergefell v Hodges - Oyez
Bostock v Clayton County - Oyez
Disparate Impact - Britannica
How have things changed since January 2025?
Several concrete, documented shifts have occurred at the federal level since January 2025:
Cuts to federal Civil Rights offices have been across the board. DOJ's Civil Rights Division lost about 75% of its lawyers. The Education Department cut nearly half its civil rights staff in a day and closed 7 of 12 regional offices. HUD's fair housing office shrank. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) hit a 40-year staffing low.
DOJ dropped or reversed its position in close to 70 active discrimination cases, including in Georgia and Texas.
Federal agencies are phasing out "disparate impact" enforcement — the framework that flags discrimination by its effects, not just provable intent.
DEI programs across the federal government were ended by executive order, and a 1965 order banning discrimination by federal contractors was rescinded.
Trans and nonbinary people lost the ability to get passports matching their gender identity; the Supreme Court let that policy stand in November 2025 while it's still being challenged in court. Trans military service was also banned, and that's being fought in court too.
This is a genuinely unsettled legal landscape — several of these are still tied up in litigation, and are not final.
Resources:
Remedies Abandoned: US Civil Rights Enforcement Under the Trump Administration - Human Rights Watch
Under Trump, the Justice Department is stepping away from some voting rights cases - NPR
Trump revokes executive order banning discrimination in federal contracting - NBC News
Supreme Court lets Trump block transgender and nonbinary people from choosing passport sex marker - NBC news
How can you take action in Ohio?
1) Check your voter registration now. Ohio's new BMV cross-check could flag you over something like your maiden name. Review this information about how to vote and make your voting plan.
2) Message your state rep or senator about one specific bill. Short and specific beats long and angry. Send a note about HB26 to those on the committee through the ACLU website.
3) Show up to a public comment period at the Statehouse. Lawmakers track volume.
4) Sign or circulate a petition if a ballot measure you care about is gathering signatures.
5) Give time or money to groups filling the enforcement gap: ACLU of Ohio, League of Women Voters Ohio, local legal aid organizations.
6) Vote in the small elections, not just the big ones. This stuff gets decided at the Statehouse and county board of elections level.
7) Send this to one person who cares but doesn't know where to start.
Resources:
Ohio’s higher education overhaul law Senate Bill 1 goes into effect as a repeal effort falls short - WOUB Public Media
Ohio governor signs bill eliminating absentee ballot grace periods - NBC News
Ohio Equal Rights starts collecting signatures to get two amendments on November ballot - Ohio Capital Journal
Let’s End Discrimination in Ohio Law. Together. - Ohio Equal Rights
Ohio Lawmakers are considering 3 problematic Immigration-Related Bills - ACLU Commentary
What’s happening in Ohio?
SB 1 banned DEI offices, training, and hiring at Ohio's public colleges. In effect since June 2025, still rolling out new requirements through 2026.
SB 293 (Dec. 2025) adds new voter ID-verification steps, including a statewide BMV/voter-registration cross-check starting March 2026. Voters with mismatched records will need to fix them before the next election.
A proposed constitutional amendment would write anti-discrimination protections (race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and more) directly into Ohio's constitution. Organizers are working toward getting it on the ballot.
Several bills (HB 26, SB 172) would push local police into federal immigration enforcement, which civil liberties groups warn raises racial profiling concerns.