Head Shot of Jay Kaplan

Title/Position

Nancy Katz & Margo Dichtelmiller LGBTQ+ Rights Project Staff Attorney

Department

Legal

Twitter handle

Jay Kaplan has been the staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project since its founding in 2001.

He has worked on cases including challenging undercover sting operations targeting gay men, fighting Michigan’s constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying, defending the validity of second parent adoptions granted in Michigan, and recently advocating for a transgender high school student to be able to run for prom court. Jay was honored with the 2006 Unsung Hero Award from the Michigan State Bar and the 2010 Virginia Uribe Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association (NEA).