LEGIT

For other uses, see Legit (disambiguation).

LEGIT (Lesbian and Gay Immigration Task Force) is a Canadian organization founded in 1991 that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual immigration equality and provides immigration information to same-sex couples.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} LEGIT was part of high profile legal challenges pushing Canada to allow immigration of same-sex partners.

History

LEGIT was founded in December 1991 in Vancouver as a grassroots lobbying group^[6][7][8] by a group of Canadians who had non-Canadian partners, including Christine Morrissey and Douglas Saunders, a law professor.^[6][7] The group led some of the first legal challenges to Canada's immigration laws related to same sex relationships, including a legal challenge to the denial of the immigration application of an Irish-American woman in a relationship with Canadian Christine Morrissey.^[2][4] The legal challenges in the early 1990s argued that individuals were being discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation, in contradiction to Canada's Charter or Rights and Freedoms.^[2][4]

In the early 2000s, LEGIT representatives advocated for same-sex inclusive immigration laws in policy creation proceedings, contributing to Canada expanding its immigration laws to be inclusive of lesbian and gay family immigration.^{[2][4][9][10]}