TransOhio

TransOhio’s Emergency Fund will temporarily pause both sharing funds and accepting applications as of Oct 1st.

We will continue to share resources and material support

Over the past 2 years, we’ve shared an average of $10-15K per month with our Ohio trans community members.
In August & September alone, we’ve distributed more than $45K.

We are incredibly grateful for steady donations from the community, but we’re seeing need grow both in how many people need help and in how urgently and significantly that help is needed.

The Fund was born out of community need, and we continue to be committed to growing and evolving to meet it.

The TransOhio Emergency Fund has grown into one of the largest active, trans specific mutual aid funds in the country, sharing over $315,000 since the beginning of 2024.

We need your help to keep it running!

The TransOhio Transformation Emergency Fund is so much more than sharing funds with each other, and truly we need people to help run it in addition to funds.

We are also having trouble keeping enough volunteers helping with the Fund. Everyone we help we are talking with directly.

Most people who we share funds with also benefit from being connected with other resources too. Individual phone calls with volunteers make this possible.

If you might be interested sign up to volunteer now, and/or stay tuned for more details on getting involed asap!

TransOhio's Emergency Fund Needs You!
Can you help us get back on track for November? 

Our mutual aid is made possible by community fundraising through concerts, bake sales, art, t-shirts, readathons, drag shows, cycling, social media, indevidual donation large and small,
just pitching in and so much more.

TransOhio ’s Summer 2026

Emergency Fund Milestone!
Over $315,000 shared
since the beginning of 2024.

Volunteer:
https://www.transohio.org/volunteer

Donate:
https://www.transohio.org/donations

Whether you’re in need of funds, resources or advice,
our emergency fund volunteers are there to help you navigate your needs

TransOhio has provided over $500.00 in complimentary remote online e-notarizations to Ohio Name Change Legal Clinic participants just this year! 💓

Learn more at https://transohio.org
Or donate at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tolegalclinic

FRANKLIN COUNTY BIRTH CERTIFICATE & NAME CHANGE CLINIC

Saturday, October 17th
Franklin County Probate Court
373 S High St, Columbus, OH 43215
9am until 12pm

WHAT WE'LL HAVE
Trained volunteer attorneys
Trained volunteer notaries
Community Resources
Court employees to process Franklin County applications

Financial assistance will be available
for those who qualify.
Applications will be taken on site.

COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH FILING:
$128 for name change (Franklin)
$78 for birth certificate correction (Franklin)

Who is eligible:
For name change:
Franklin County resident for at least 60 days

For Ohio birth certificate correction you must:
Be born in Franklin County
Currently live in Franklin County
Or have a Mom who was a Franklin County resident at the time of your birth

(SUGGESTED)
WHAT TO BRING:
Your questions!
Government-issued photo ID
Copy of birth certificate
Proof of any Prior Name Change

We’re just getting started! Join TransOhio in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Annual Trans & Ally Symposium: Across Generations 🏳️‍⚧️

The 17th Annual Trans & Ally Symposium
Sept 5, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio
https://www.transohio.org/annual-symposium

24 and Under Youth Track
Community Organizing
Trans Health & Self Advocacy
Zine Making
Ask a Trans Parent
Alterations for All Clothes
Free Closet
Weaving for Community
Trans Athletics
Across Generations Conversation
Bookmarked Craft and Chat
Stop the Bleed Harm Reduction Training
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks
Quiet Room and Sensory Space
Meet ups and community space
Trans Historical Zine Library
Free legal clinic and WPATH Letter Clinic

All Ages Community Track
Community Organizing
Trans S*x Ed and S*xuality
Community Support & Resilience
Creation and Healing trans Art
Trans History Across Decades
Trans Tarot and Healing Practice
Stop the Bleed Harm Reduction Training
Trans Disaster Preparedness
Across Generations Conversation
Legislative Update
Home DIY Fitness
Free Closet
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks
Quiet Room and Sensory Space
Meet ups and Community Space
Free Legal Clinic and WPATH Letter Clinic

Interbelief Track
Healing from Religious Trauma
Interfaith Prayer
Interbelief Trans Panel Discussion
Trans History Across Decades
Small Group share
Stop the Bleed Harm Reduction Training
Across Generations Conversation
Free Closet
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks
Quiet Room and Sensory Space
Meet ups and Community Space
Free Legal Clinic and WPATH Letter Clinic

Provider Track
More than just Ally: Partners
Navigating Insurance for Trans Healthcare
Trans Healthcare Experiences Panel
Your Nervous System Is Not the Enemy
HRT 101.5: Beyond the E's and T's 
Free Closet
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks
Quiet Room and Sensory Space
Stop the Bleed Harm Reduction Training
Meet ups and Community Space
Free Legal Clinic and WPATH Letter Clinic

During ticket purchase please indicate the one track you most want to engage with so that we can approximate headcounts:

https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/transohio/transohio-s-17th-annual-trans-ally-symposium-across-generations

NEW: Ohio BMV Gender Marker Changes: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
(Last Updated 8/31/26)

This past month, the Ohio BMV removed the ability to update license and state ID gender markers without an updated birth certificate.

NEW:
transohio.org/bmvfacts

Full Program out: https://www.transohio.org/annual-symposium

Less than a week away!

The 17th Annual TransOhio Trans & Ally Symposium: Across Generations
SEPT 5 - 6, 2026
Hosted at Heart of Northside
Cincinnati

The TransOhio Trans & Ally Symposium began as a one-day event in 2008, attended by approximately 80 people. Now in its 17th year, the Symposium has since grown to be a multi-day conference with 300+ participants, 75+ workshops, and various continuing education credits for qualifying professionals. We cannot wait to meet you or see you again!

The 17th Annual TransOhio Trans & Ally Symposium
September 5 - 6, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio
Schedule Announcement

SEE THE SCHEDULE AND GET TICKETS HERE:
https://www.transohio.org/annual-symposium

Do you represent a organization or group appalled by the removal of the gender designation form from the BMV? Sign on here, letter text both below and in the link: https://forms.gle/iPB723ECPg7jmfcQ9

To:
Ohio BMV Interim Director: Benjamin B. Suver
Ohio BMV Assistant Director: Dan Fitzpatrick
Ohio BMV Registrar: Charles L. Norman
Ohio Department of Public Safety Director: Andy Wilson
Ohio BMV General Counsel: Curt Mayhew
All Ohio BMV regional office managers
Ohio Governor: Mike DeWine
All Ohio State Representatives
All Ohio State Senators
Ohio Civil Rights Commission and All Members

We the undersigned community groups and organizations, write in strong opposition to the August 14th, 2026, policy change by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), in which the BMV has ended all use of the Declaration of Gender Change form (BMV2369), a form that has been used successfully and without cause for concern for 17 years to correct an individual’s s*x marker on their Ohio driver’s license or state identification. This change creates significant and unreasonable barriers to accessing legal identification for transgender Ohioans. These barriers will have compounding consequences for the health and well-being of thousands of Ohio residents.

Under the newly stated BMV policy, individuals will only be able to make corrections to the s*x marker on their driver’s license or state identification by producing an amended birth certificate. However, currently, in 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties, we have documented inconsistent policies by county courthouses that make changing one’s gender marker impossible in actual practice.

Under this new BMV policy, residents of these 82 counties, along with Ohioans who were born in states that do not allow birth certificate amendments, are essentially banned from making a change to the s*x marker on their BMV-issued identification.

This change will have lasting and dangerous impacts for thousands of transgender Ohioans. State-issued identification, such as a driver’s license, is necessary in accessing many of the basic needs that we as tax-paying citizens of Ohio- and as human beings with basic intrinsic dignity- deserve to access. Already, over one third of transgender individuals report living in poverty, 18% experience unemployment, 11% have been fired because of their identity, and one third of all transgender individuals have experienced homelessness. Access to correct identification is required to obtain employment, housing, and healthcare. Under this new policy, as fewer and fewer transgender Ohioans can access state-issued identification, these statistics will only grow more grim.

This policy will also severely limit trans Ohioans' basic access to public spaces, freedom of movement, safety, and peace of mind. As documented by the Williams Institute in 2026, anti-transgender hate crimes have nearly tripled since 2018. In a world where transgender individuals are increasingly vulnerable to violence, it is not safe to show an identification with a s*x marker that does not match your current presentation at a traffic stop, in a ride-share app, at airport security, or even at the pharmacy. Many transgender Ohioans will be forced to live in fear simply to leave their homes.

This policy does not solve any issue for Ohioans–instead, it creates a problem where one had already been solved. Transgender Ohioans have successfully used the Declaration of Gender Change form in Ohio for 17 years without issue. The use of this form does not harm or endanger any individual, institution, or organization. However, the choice to disallow its use will materially harm and endanger thousands of Ohio residents.

Transgender people have always existed and we always will. We do not require a government-issued identification to know that our identities are real, beautiful, and uniquely our own- just like any of our cisgender peers. However, trans people deserve access to the same basic rights and human dignity afforded all Ohio residents, such as access to basic needs such as employment, housing, and healthcare. Through the BMV’s new policy, transgender Ohioans will be cut off from these basic rights.

We, the undersigned, urge you to return to the previous state policy and reinstate the Declaration of Gender form.

Sincerely,

TransOhio

Ohio BMV Gender Designation Form Removal Sign On Letter August 2026 We the undersigned community groups and organizations, write in strong opposition to the August 14th, 2026, policy change by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), in which the BMV has ended all use of the Declaration of Gender Change form (BMV2369), a form that has been used successfully and with...