We gathered on November 6, 2025 to celebrate The Law Foundation of Ontario’s 2025 Guthrie Award recipient: Bennett Jensen. The Guthrie Award is the Foundation’s signature award to recognize exceptional access to justice champions.
Bennett is a human rights lawyer and one of the most respected 2SLGBTQIA+ advocates and leaders in Canada. 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 has led some of the most significant human rights advances for 2SLGBTQIA+ people, in particular for trans and gender-diverse youth. He has also mobilized a coalition of new advocates and allies and generated greater awareness and understanding about 2SLGBTQIA+ people and their lived experiences.
The Guthrie Award Reception was held at the Toronto Reference Library. We were pleased to host Bennett’s loved ones, his colleagues from Egale, and many partners and grantees from the legal, academic, and nonprofit sectors. We heard poignant words from Adam Goldenberg, who is a Partner at McCarthy Tétrault and one of Bennett’s nominators for this award. Adam spoke about Bennett’s achievements, not the least of which is his ability to instill trust and hope in gender-diverse youth at the centre of his advocacy.
Our Board Chair, Gerald Chan emceed the event and had the honour of presenting Bennett with the Guthrie Award Medal. Gerald highlighted Bennett’s leadership on many legal victories that are changing, and no doubt helping to save, the lives of many 2SLGBTQIA+ youth across Canada. Bennett spoke about the privilege of being able to put his energy and skills to work to help protect vulnerable people, especially young trans people. He gave thanks to the many supporters who gave him the platforms and roles to do so. Bennett also made a request: for each of us to use our power and influence to uphold a society where we can all belong and exist as we are.
- Watch a video of the speeches below and on YouTube.
- See photos from the celebration below.
- Read the full award announcement.
00:16 – Gerald Chan, Board Chair, The Law Foundation of Ontario
02:14 – Adam Goldenberg, nominator and Partner at McCarthy Tétrault
07:55 – Gerald Chan, Board Chair, The Law Foundation of Ontario
14:47 – Bennett Jensen, Guthrie Award recipient
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