Legal Resources
Click on the organization name to be taken to their website.
The ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Project seeks to create a just society for all LGBT people regardless of race or income. Through litigation, lobbying, public education, and organizing, they work to build a country where our communities can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association.
Amnesty International conducts research, provides training, and advocates for reform to advance equality and safety.
New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) provides free and confidential assistance to thousands of LGBTQ and HIV-affected people across New York city each year through their 24-hour bilingual hotline, counseling, support groups, legal representation, and individual advocacy. AVP helps survivors of violence and allies become advocates for safety through participation in community education and outreach, development of organizing campaigns, and the creation and support of city, state and national coalitions to address LGBTQ and HIV-affected violence
Contact Information:
116 Nassau Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10038
Phone: (212) 714-1184
24 Hour Hotline: (212) 714-1141
116 Nassau Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10038
Phone: (212) 714-1184
24 Hour Hotline: (212) 714-1141
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR has long had a deep commitment to protecting members of LGBTQI communities from discrimination, censorship, violence, and persecution, both in the US and around the world.
Contact Information:
666 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10012
(212) 614-6464
An online contact form is available here.
666 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10012
(212) 614-6464
An online contact form is available here.
The Center for HIV Law & Policy (CHLP) supports and increases the advocacy power and HIV expertise of attorneys, community members, and service providers, and advances policy initiatives that are grounded in and uphold social justice, science, and public health.
Contact Information:
147 Prince Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(212) 430-6733
147 Prince Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(212) 430-6733
Day One partners with New York City youth to end dating abuse and domestic violence through community education, supportive services, legal advocacy, and leadership development. Serving all five boroughs, Day One uses an empowerment model that invests and involves young people in maintaining safe relationships for themselves and their peers.
Contact Information:
General: (212) 566-8120
Helpline: (800) 214-4150
Text Line: (646) 535-DAY1 (3291)
General: (212) 566-8120
Helpline: (800) 214-4150
Text Line: (646) 535-DAY1 (3291)
Family Equality Council's mission is to advance legal and lived equality for LGBTQ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change.
Contact Information:
475 Park Avenue South, Suite 2100
New York, NY 10016
(646) 880-3005
475 Park Avenue South, Suite 2100
New York, NY 10016
(646) 880-3005
Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) work in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.
Contact Information:
18 Tremont, Suite 950
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 426-1350
18 Tremont, Suite 950
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 426-1350
Immigration Equality advocates for and represents lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), and HIV-positive immigrants seeking safety, fair treatment, and freedom. They have been focused on providing free direct legal services to LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants for over 20 years.
Focused on the greater New York metropolitan area, LeGaL is dedicated to improving the administration of the law, ensuring full equality for members of the LGBT community, promoting the expertise and advancement of LGBT legal professionals, and serving the larger community.
Contact Information:
120 Wall Street, Floor 19,
New York, NY 10005
(212) 353-9118
120 Wall Street, Floor 19,
New York, NY 10005
(212) 353-9118
Mount Sinai's Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention (SAVI) program offers confidential, free of charge services including: counseling for survivors of rape, sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, and intimate partner violence and support services for friends and families of survivors; counseling and support services for Orthodox Jewish survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence; emergency room advocacy; legal advocacy; and education and training.
Contact Information:
(212) 423-2140
(212) 423-2140
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a non-profit, public interest law firm that litigates precedent-setting cases at the trial and appellate court levels; advocates for equitable public policies affecting the LGBT community; provides free legal assistance to LGBT people and their legal advocates; and conducts community education on LGBT issues.
The National Center for Transgender Equality is the nation's leading social justice advocacy organization winning life-saving change for transgender people. Their website provides learning resources for those seeking to learn more about the trans* community and issues facing them, as well as up-to-date resources for trans* individuals about their rights and legal resources available to aid in the fight against discrimination.
OutRight (formerly the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission) seeks to advance human rights and opportunities for LGBTIQ people around the world by developing critical partnerships at global, regional, and national levels to build capacity, document violations, advocate for inclusion and equality, and hold leaders accountable for protecting the rights of all LGBTIQ people. Today, they partner with local LGBTIQ organizations across four regions and maintain a cross-regional LGBTIQ initiative at the UN in New York. As an international LGBTIQ organization with a long history of productive and trusting relationships with grassroots LGBTIQ communities worldwide, they serve as a bridge between local communities and high-impact external levers of power.
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination or violence. They provide access to free, quality, respectful, affirming legal services for low-income transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people, while also using training, public education, policy reform, and precedent-setting lawsuits to end state sanctioned and institutional discrimination, violence, and coercion on the basis of gender identity and expression.
Contact Information:
147 W 24th Street, 5th Floor,
New York, NY 10011
(212) 337-8550
147 W 24th Street, 5th Floor,
New York, NY 10011
(212) 337-8550
Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation.
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund is a nonprofit whose mission is to end discrimination and achieve equality for transgender people, particularly those in our most vulnerable communities. Their strategies include pathbreaking trans rights cases an "friend of the court" briefs regarding key issues of employment, health care, education, and public accommodations. They seek to coordinate with traditional civil rights organizations and other LGBT civil rights organizations. They also provide legal name change services to community members trough partnerships with some of the nation's premier law firms and corporate law departments through their Name Change Project.
The Urban Justice Center is a New York City-based social justice advocacy organization that works for and empowers the most vulnerable among us through a combination of direct legal services, systemic advocacy, community education and political organizing. They provide services to clients on many levels, from one-on-one legal advice in soup kitchens, to helping individuals access housing and government assistance, to filing class action lawsuits to bring about systemic change.
Contact Information:
Main Office -
40 Rector Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10006
(646) 602-5600
Click here to view the list of initiatives that can provide legal help.
Main Office -
40 Rector Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10006
(646) 602-5600
Click here to view the list of initiatives that can provide legal help.