Bennett Jensen receives 2025 Guthrie Award

The Law Foundation of Ontario is pleased to announce that Bennett Jensen is the recipient of the 2025 Guthrie Award, the Foundation’s signature award to recognize exceptional access to justice champions.

Bennett is a human rights lawyer renowned for his compelling and impassioned advocacy for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, in particular for trans and gender diverse youth. He currently serves as the Director of Legal at Egale Canada, one of the country’s leading organizations dedicated to 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and issues.

“Bennett is one of the most respected 2SLGBTQIA+ advocates and leaders in Canada,” says Gerald Chan, the Foundation’s Board Chair. “At a time when it is often unpopular and even unsafe to do so, Bennett has prominently led some of the most significant human rights wins for 2SLGBTQIA+ people, mobilized a coalition of new advocates and allies, and generated awareness and understanding about 2SLGBTQIA+ people and their lived experience.”

Before joining Egale, Bennett was a policy advisor and later a Director of Litigation for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada where he supported the passage of the criminal ban against conversion “therapy”. Bennett began his career as a litigator at Paul Weiss, a global law firm based in New York City, where he served as deputy head of the firm’s award-winning pro bono practice. He was instrumental in the firm’s response to the family separation crisis at the US-Mexico border, leading child reunification efforts by dispatching lawyers to work with detained parents. Bennett also led work responding to the Muslim travel ban and ran projects to meet the needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals.

“Anyone who has interacted with Bennett can see that his dedication to justice for vulnerable communities is unwavering,” says Helen Kennedy, Executive Director of Egale Canada, who nominated Bennett for the Guthrie Award. “Through his compassionate leadership, trans and gender diverse youth and their families know they have someone standing up for them during this exceptionally difficult period for 2SLGBTQIA+ people. Bennett’s work is instilling optimism and fostering hope. He is a role model to trans youth and a relentless champion of their right to grow up feeling safe and accepted for who they are.”

Credited with revamping Egale’s legal advocacy efforts to respond to rising anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate, Bennett has been at the forefront of some of Canada’s most important 2SLGBTQIA+-related legal actions, including cases against discriminatory policies that target gender diverse youth. In Ontario specifically, under Bennett’s leadership, Egale intervened in cases that concern the ability of regulators to issue remedial orders to professionals engaging in transphobic speech, that ensure appropriate access to gender-affirming care for nonbinary individuals, and that address whether the Charter of Rights applies to school boards.

Bennett is respected as an inspiring and effective community-builder. He has been instrumental in assembling and mobilizing legal professionals to join Egale Canada’s Legal Issues Committee. His efforts have built a coalition of legal advocates who work collaboratively to craft innovative legal strategies, advocate for policy changes, and ensure that human rights are central to 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy in Canada.

Bennett earned his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) from McGill University, and he is a member of the Ontario and New York State Bars. He was recognized as a Rising Star by the American Bar Association and as one of the LGBTQ+ Bar Association’s Best 40 Lawyers Under 40. In 2024, Bennett received the Hero Award from the Canadian Bar Association’s Sexual and Gender Diversity Alliance Section.

About the Guthrie Award
The Law Foundation of Ontario created the Guthrie Award in 1996 to honour H. Donald Guthrie, QC, a long-standing member and Chair of the Foundation’s Board. A Guthrie Award recipient joins the legacy of the Guthrie Award and becomes a member of an esteemed group recognized for their achievements in improving access to justice. Past recipients have come from many directions – the judiciary, private bar, community legal clinics, and nonprofit organizations. They saw a chance to make a difference and took it. The full list of Guthrie Award recipients can be found on the Foundation’s website.