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Finding Joy in the Fight: Jay Kaplan's Decades of LGBTQ+ Advocacy in Michigan

Why the ACLU attorney is still optimistic, even as a new Trump administration takes office

Sarah Bricker Hunt

In the darkest days of Michigan's LGBTQ+ history, when marriage equality seemed impossible and discrimination protections were a distant dream, Jay Kaplan was fighting. He still is. For more than two decades in his role as staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project, Kaplan has been at ground zero of nearly every recent major victory — and setback — in the state's long march toward equality.

“Why is he so impactful? It’s his wisdom, which he shares generously, and the nuggets of knowledge that he drops when he hosts and facilitates community workshops and when he shows up in community spaces… truly, what he does for the community is life-changing,” says Jeynce Poindexter, executive director of Trans Sistas of Color Project and a longtime colleague and friend who has worked with Kaplan for over a decade on various initiatives, including the 2022 amendment to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act that added LGBTQ+ discrimination protections to the state constitution..

Speaking to Kaplan today about his decades of LGBTQ+ advocacy in Michigan, it feels as though he might have been born for this role. But becoming one of the country's most influential civil rights attorneys wasn't exactly what he had in mind growing up in Southfield in the 1960s and '70s. 



“It wasn’t my plan to become a lawyer from an early age, but I think sometimes, and I'm generalizing, when you grow up in a Jewish family, with Jewish parents, their aspiration, particularly for a son, is to either be a doctor or a lawyer,” Kaplan recalls with a smile. “I knew I didn't want to do anything with medicine because I just didn't have that stomach for the human body or blood, so I ended up going to law school.”

After earning his psychology degree from the University of Michigan and attending Wayne State University Law School, Kaplan discovered a passion for public interest law while volunteering at a legal aid clinic representing indigent tenants in eviction proceedings. This early career experience led to a 13-year tenure at Michigan Protection & Advocacy Services (now Disability Rights Michigan), where he established a groundbreaking HIV/AIDS advocacy program during the height of the AIDS epidemic in Michigan. “At that time, for many people living with HIV or having AIDS, it was a death sentence,” Kaplan says. “We focused on helping people get on social security disability as well as doing simple documents for them about medical care so their wishes would be preserved, as well as wills for people.”

Jay Kaplan at the Michigan ACLU in 2006. BTL archive
Jay Kaplan at the Michigan ACLU in 2006. BTL archive

Working inside the HIV/AIDS crisis deeply influenced Kaplan's path toward LGBTQ+ advocacy. “The epidemic was disproportionately impacting the gay community,” he explains. “I saw, firsthand, the discriminatory policies and the lack of legal protections and the need to recognize same-sex relationships under the law in order to protect people's wishes who were dying.”

When the ACLU of Michigan created its LGBT Project in 2001, Kaplan knew it was his next step. “I was very content with where I was working, but I always thought if the ACLU of Michigan ever started their own LGBTQ project, that would be something I would love to be a part of,” he says. The project was initially funded for just two years, but under Kaplan's leadership, it has become a long-standing cornerstone of LGBTQ+ advocacy in Michigan.

The project's creation was timely, coming at a moment when Michigan had taken a conservative turn. “The governor's office, the Michigan Supreme Court, the legislature and certain groups like the American Family Association, which had a location in Michigan — the ACLU thought it'd be important to have a project like this,” Kaplan explains.

Under his leadership over the past 23 years, the project has achieved significant victories, including marriage equality and state civil rights protections. He was also instrumental in ACLU’s landmark case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC & Aimee Stephens, representing Stephens to secure federal civil rights protections against employment discrimination for LGBTQ+ people.

“I am eternally grateful for his friendship, for his leadership, for his input throughout the state of Michigan, for his footprint and advocacy,” says Poindexter. She especially appreciates his accessibility despite his prominence in the movement for the community and for her on a deeply personal level. "Jay has been there for me personally outside of work in ways that I would not think many white men would be for me as a Black trans woman."

“To see someone so committed to change, it is beautiful because you just don't get that, especially in nonprofit work,” Poindexter reflects. “The heart and the grit and the fabric of what he's made of is to serve.”

Emme Zanotti, director of advocacy and civic engagement at Equality Michigan, echoes Poindexter’s sentiments. Zanotti regularly works alongside Kaplan on advocacy projects throughout the state. “Jay is a tireless advocate,” she notes. “I really don't think his passion is rivaled. But above all that, he's just a really good person. Everything about him conveys how approachable and compassionate he is. He makes our movement and the spaces we hold safer for everyone.”

Looking ahead to life after the November 2024 election, in which Michigan Democrats lost their House majority and Donald Trump was reelected, Kaplan acknowledges that progress isn't always linear. “I guess if you ask me right now, I would say I'm surprised that with all the progress we've made, there is this great concern that some of this progress could very well be pushed back,” he notes. “Anytime you have a civil rights movement, you make progress and then there's an effort to try to push back.”

Jay Kaplan. Photo: Andrew Potter
Jay Kaplan. Photo: Andrew Potter

Kaplan acknowledges there are many current challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community, particularly regarding transgender rights. Still, he remains steadfast in his commitment, and encourages the community to reflect on what we still have — the fruits of hard work and dedication that will continue delivering results for the queer community. “What we have to do is we have to stick together and we have to stand up and we have to raise our voices and we have to think outside of the box,” he says. “Michigan went from being a terrible state at one point, to being in a much better place policy-wise and leadership-wise. We have strong allies in the governor, attorney general, secretary of state. We have a progressive majority on our Michigan Supreme Court.”

Away from his legal work, Kaplan relishes time spent working in community theater, directing productions that often reflect diverse stories and communities. “I'm directing a play this year for Stagecrafters 2nd Stage,” he shares, discussing an upcoming production of “Somewhere,” which focuses on a Puerto Rican family in 1959 New York City. “I've been able to direct shows that deal with being gay or that focus on the transgender community. I like shows that have a message.”

Kaplan's theatrical pursuits aren't just a hobby — they're a vital part of maintaining balance in his life. Two years ago, he appeared in “The Inheritance” at the Ringwald Theatre, and for nearly 20 years, he's been collaborating with a friend to create cabaret shows performed in various spaces. “That brings me a great deal of joy,” he says.

Looking toward the future, Kaplan offers his trademark blend of realism and optimism — while he's approaching retirement age and looking forward to a different pace at some point, he can't imagine completely stepping away from advocacy work. “I don't know if I'll ever retire from doing some kind of work. I think I have too many interests and too much energy, and I always want to be involved in helping people,” he says. However, he recognizes the importance of making space for new leaders, when the time comes, noting, “It's important to have new people come in who have new perspectives and can bring a fresh approach.”

This perspective reflects broader changes he's observed in the LGBTQ+ community over the decades. “There weren't many organizations at the beginning and there were limited resources and funding, and so sometimes you found a lot of turf wars going on,” he recalls. “I'm not seeing that anymore, and I think it's because we've developed more organizations and resources and people working together for a common good.”

Jay Kaplan. Photo: Andrew Potter
Jay Kaplan. Photo: Andrew Potter

Above all, Kaplan emphasizes the importance of seeking happiness while continuing the fight for equality, even in the face of a second Trump administration — an election the GOP won after viciously campaigning against LGBTQ+ rights, including here in Michigan. “Some of the opposition would like us to feel completely defeated, to feel this sense of hopelessness and to not be able to find joy in our lives,” he acknowledges. “And I think probably the strongest antidote to all of this is for us to find the joyful things in our life. It doesn't mean you're neglecting the cause or anything like that. You have to have that balance.”

Whatever is to come in 2025 and beyond, Kaplan remains energized and committed. After all, there's still plenty of work to be done — and plenty of happiness to be found. “I feel very committed to this idea that we're going to work really hard on the ways to come up with solutions, and it might look different than some of the traditional ways that we've looked at that,” he says. With a new great-niece on the way, theater productions to direct and ongoing advocacy work, Kaplan plans to keep balancing the serious work of civil rights advocacy with finding delight in life's simple pleasures.

“No election can change what I think is right, what I think is fair,” he says. “Nothing's going to stop me from fighting back and standing up for what's right.”



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