Transgender woman barred from Miss Universe Canada beauty pageant

Liz Draper
WVoN co-editor

A transgender woman has been barred from the final of the Miss Universe Canada beauty pageant.

Jenna Talackova, 23, was one of 65 finalists due to compete to represent Canada in the Miss Universe contest in May.

However, her profile was removed from the organisation’s Canadian website after organisers discovered that she was born a man.

Beauties of Canada announced on Friday that Talackova would not take part because “she did not meet the requirements to compete despite having stated otherwise on her entry form”.

Although Beauties of Canada did not specify which requirements Talackova failed to meet, the Miss Universe organization stated that: “the Miss Universe pageant has rules which apply to all of its franchises around the world… The rules currently state that all contestants must be naturally born females”.

Talackova realised she was female when she was four years old, began hormone therapy at the age of 14, and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2010. She is open about her past, describing herself as “a woman with a history”.

In 2010, she was a finalist in Thailand’s Miss International Queen pageant for transgendered women.

Talackova’s disqualification has provoked mixed responses. Several online petitions have been set up to call for her reinstatement.

The biggest, which calls the disqualification “discriminatory, unjust, and quite frankly disgusting”, has attracted more than 41,000 signatures.

However, some have defended the decision, arguing that contestants should only be allowed to compete based on their natural abilities.

Talackova herself has not spoken to the press, pending possible legal action. However, she has taken to Twitter to thank her fans for their support.

“I’m not going to just let them disqualify me over discrimination”, she tweeted last week.