Later in 1965, a new law amended the solicitation law from saying "unnatural sex act" to saying "act of sex perversion." Therefore, the law was no longer unconstitutionally vague.

In 1965, in the case of State v. Sharpe, an appellate court ruled that the law prohibiting solicitation for an "unnatural sex act" was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. Therefore, sex between women became fully legal again.

In 1961, Ohio adopted a new law that expressly prohibited the solicitation of any person, of any gender, to engage in an “unnatural sex act”. The punishment upon conviction was up to six months imprisonment and/or a $200 fine. The person would also be subjected to institutionalization under the Ascherman Act.

In 1886, in the case of Foster et al. v. State, the Court ruled that for "when the act charged is copulation against nature, that at least one of the parties to it must be a male person." Therefore, sex between women became legal.

In 1906, this exemption for lesbians became further explicit when a text on Ohio law which discussed how sodomy was viewed in Ohio courts did not include that two women were capable of committing the crime.

In 1945, the Ohio legislature amended the sodomy law to establish that the minimum sentence to a conviction of sodomy was one year. The maximum sentence of 20 years was not changed.

In 1885, a new law was adopted that criminalized "carnal copulation against nature" with up to 20 years imprisonment.

In 1823, The Supreme Court of Ohio ruled in Key v. Vattier that the state did not recognize common-law crimes; the legality of sodomy was no longer unclear.

In 1806, the common-law statute was once again repealed. However, there was still dispute as to whether or not Ohio recognized common-law crimes. The legality of sodomy was therefore unclear.

In 1805, only 6 weeks after it was repealed, the common-law statute was readopted with the exact laws as it had before the repeal.

In 1804, after statehood, a statute repealed this law, thereby legalizing sodomy.

In January of 1805, Ohio adopted its first criminal code. It did not have any mention of sodomy.

In 1795, a Council in charge of creating laws for Ohio adopted a statute that included the common law of England and English laws adopted prior to England's settlement of North America in 1607. England's buggery statute which mandated the death penalty for male on male buggery was therefore adopted.

In May 2004, Gov. Bob Taft signed legislation into law that banned the recognition of same-sex marriages, including those that were legally entered into “in any other jurisdiction”.

In November 2004, Ohio voters approved Ohio Issue 1, which was a constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage and same-sex civil unions.

Before 2004, Ohio neither banned nor recognized same-sex marriage or civil unions.

There is no laws censoring LGBT topics currently in Ohio.

However, on April 4, 2022, a bill was introduced mimicking the "Don't say gay" bill in Florida, in which schools would be forbidden from teaching LGBT topics and critical race theory. The bill was heard during the Summer and is set to be heard again in the Fall.

In 2024, another bill was put forward and is being implemented in April 2025.

Until 2021, Ohio did not provide any opportunity for people to change their legal gender on their birth certificates.

The Tenth District Court of Appeals overturned House Bill 68, which banned gender affirming care for youth, in March 18, 2025, legalising care for minors.

On August 6th, 2024, an Ohio judge upheld a law which bans gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors.

Adults and Minors are able to still get gender affirming care in Ohio. Minors are unknown at this time due to an ongoing lawsuit about HB68. HB68 also known as the SAFE Act (Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation), bans all gender affirming care and requires minors to "lean off" medications. Adults are able to get gender affirming care as Governor DeWine backed off his proposed plans to ban gender affirming care for adults. As of April 23rd 2024, Minors and Adults are freely still able to get gender affirming care

President Trump's Department of Justice and the EEOC revoked protections for gender identity in employment discrimination.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that “[A]llegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex”, and are barred by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This ruling applies at both the state and federal levels.

In a landmark decision, Democratic President Obama's EEOC ruled that gender identity was included under Title VII protections from the Civil Rights Act (originally written to protect people based on sex discrimination).

Before 2012's EEOC ruling, no protections existed at the state or federal levels.

Single LGBT individuals may adopt children, but same-sex couples may not adopt jointly or by way of second parent adoption.

From July 6, 2025 onward, Coast Guard Reserve and Regular Coast Guard service members who were eligible for voluntary separation but did not elect or complete it, and who either have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and do not receive a waiver, or have a history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery in connection with a sex transition, are placed into the involuntary administrative separation process.

From June 7, 2025 onward, Active Guard Reserve, Marine Corps Active Reserve, Regular Air Force, Regular Army, Regular Marine Corps, and Regular Space Force service members who were eligible for voluntary separation but did not elect or complete it, and who either have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and do not receive a waiver, or have a history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery in connection with a sex transition, are placed into the involuntary administrative separation process.

On May 8, 2025, the United States Department of Defense (USDoD) began initiating administrative separation proceedings for service members who had already identified themselves for voluntary separation before March 26, 2025. On the same date, it reinstated the ban on transgender enlistment by directing that applicants who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and do not receive a waiver, or who have a history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery in connection with a sex transition, are denied entry into military service.

On May 9, 2025, the USDoD ended all surgical procedures related to sex reassignment for service members with gender dysphoria. All such procedures—whether planned, scheduled, or not yet scheduled—were canceled, and any previously approved SHCP waivers for these surgeries were revoked. New waiver requests are no longer processed, except in cases involving the necessary treatment of surgical complications, which require special review.

Service members aged 19 or older who were already receiving cross-sex hormone therapy prior to this memorandum may continue treatment temporarily if a provider deems it necessary to prevent harm, but only until their separation is completed. Moving forward, USDoD funding cannot be used to initiate any new hormone therapy treatments for gender dysphoria, though military department leaders may request case-by-case exceptions for non-surgical care if needed to protect a service member’s health, subject to review and approval.

Also on May 9, 2025, the USDoD directed military educational institution libraries to use a standardized set of subject-heading searches to identify post-2010 books potentially associated with “gender ideology,” transgender-related topics, and other targeted concepts, sequester those materials from normal access by May 21, 2025, and hold them for expert review and possible later disposition.

On May 15, 2025, the United States Coast Guard resumed implementation of its transgender service policy by immediately pausing new accessions for individuals with a history of gender dysphoria and pausing planned, scheduled, or unscheduled medical procedures related to gender transition.

By May 21, 2025, the US Naval Academy had returned all but about 20 of the 381 books removed on March 31–April 1, 2025, to its shelves, while US Air Force libraries, including the US Air Force Academy, had also pulled a few dozen books for review.

On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard formally made members and applicants with gender dysphoria who did not receive a waiver ineligible for service and subject to separation or disqualification, while allowing temporary continuation of some preexisting hormone therapy until separation.

On June 6, 2025, US Coast Guard restored the Civil Rights Awards Program after completing a review and updating the Civil Rights Manual.

On the evening of March 18th, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the implementation of Trump's executive order banning transgender people from the military. The judge said that not only was the order unconstitutional but “a solution in search of a problem.”.

On January 27th, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that bans transgender people from serving in the military.
On February 10th, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth filed in court a memo relating to President Trump’s executive order from the previous month.

From then until March 18th, 2025, The U.S. military prohibited transgender individuals from enlisting and ceased providing or supporting gender transition procedures for service members.

In 2021, former President Joe Biden removed then-former President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.

The Trump administration enacted a new policy barring individuals with a "condition" known as "gender dysphoria." from serving in the military.

In 2011, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was repealed by the Obama Administration. Former President Obama allowed members who were dishonorably discharged under DADT, to receive an honorable discharge.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell was the historic compromise signed by President Bill Clinton authorizing people who are LGBT to serve in the military provided they didn't disclose sexuality. The law also removed the ability for others in the military from asking for a service member's orientation.

From May 19, 1941 until September 20, 2011, LGB people were banned from enlistment and service in the United States Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, and US Navy, and, beginning September 18, 1947, in the Air Force. From October 1, 1982, to September 19, 2011, when homosexuality was the sole basis for separation and no aggravating circumstances were present, the characterization of service was determined by the member’s overall record and could be Honorable or General (under honorable conditions), with entry-level cases receiving an uncharacterized separation.

By May 17, 1963, in the United States Army; by 1982, in the United States Air Force; from March 31, 1986, on a U.S. Department of Defense-wide accession basis covering the United States Army, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and, by agreement, the United States Coast Guard; by August 12, 2005, in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps; and by April 29, 2011, in the United States Coast Guard, transgender people were banned from enlistment and service until open service was authorized on June 30, 2016.

By February 22, 1956, in the United States Coast Guard; by February 10, 1961, in the United States Army; by January 11, 1962, in an Air Force-specific accession standard; from March 31, 1986, on a Department of Defense-wide accession basis covering the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and, by agreement, the Coast Guard; and, from December 20, 2019, in the United States Space Force through inherited Air Force and DoD standards, applicants with intersex-related conditions identified in military rules as “hermaphroditism,” and later as “hermaphroditism, pseudohermaphroditism, or pure gonadal dysgenesis,” were disqualified from accession under military medical standards.

The FDA announced changes to the blood donor eligibility policy in April 2020, reducing the MSM deferral period from 12 months to 3 months. The change came amid the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, where blood was needed urgently.

After a series of recommendations, the FDA has moved to a 12 months deferral.

Starting in 1983, the United States implemented a full ban on blood donations from gay men. The primary justification for the ban was the perceived high risk of HIV transmission, with health regulators identifying men who have sex with men (MSM) as a significant risk to the safety of the blood supply.