Miss Universe Canada disqualifies Vancouver-based transsexual contestant
9:53 pm - 03/24/2012
She’s blond, 6-foot-1, and has the body of a goddess.
Vancouver’s Jenna Talackova was everything Miss Universe Canada was looking for when she was selected among 65 finalists for the 2012 competition, to be held in Toronto in May.
But the Donald Trump–owned beauty pageant confirmed Friday that the 23-year-old has been disqualified from the competition.
The reason, Talackova claims, is she was born male.
“She did not meet the requirements to compete despite having stated otherwise on her entry form,” stated a Miss Universe Canada release issued on Friday.
“We do, however, respect her goals, determination and wish her the best,” it concludes, without specifying what requirements she did not meet.
Talackova set the blogosphere abuzz earlier this week after it was discovered she had sexual reassignment surgery in 2010.
Her profile and photos from the pageant’s website were subsequently pulled.
The statuesque blond told The Province Friday she needs to speak to her lawyer before taking part in interviews.
But Talackova has made statements online over Twitter about being “disqualified for being born.”
By March 18, she had apparently already been told by Miss Universe Canada her place in the competition was in jeopardy.
“Still waiting to know if I’m able to compete ... praying and fingers crossed,” she Tweeted that day.
Two days later, she got the news.
“I’m disqualified, however I’m not giving up,” she wrote, defiantly. “I’m not going to just let them disqualify me over discrimination.”
Responses to her plight posted online have been mixed.
Some have welcomed her inclusion in the competition, while others believe such pageants are for women born as women.
Miss Universe Canada contestants must meet a basic requirement of being a Canadian citizen and between the ages of 18 and 27 to compete.
They also must not be married, pregnant, and have to fill out a more comprehensive form if they meet the basic requirements.
There is no mention of rules regarding sex-changes or cosmetic surgery.
Talackova has been rather open about her transsexual past online.
During an interview for a transsexual beauty pageant in Thailand — Miss International Queen 2010 — the Canadian representative refers to herself as “a woman, with a history.”
That history includes recognizing herself as a female since the age of four and beginning hormone therapy when she was 14.
source.
eta: cut fixed, I have no idea whaat happened. I went to bed shortly after posting this to the queue
Vancouver’s Jenna Talackova was everything Miss Universe Canada was looking for when she was selected among 65 finalists for the 2012 competition, to be held in Toronto in May.
But the Donald Trump–owned beauty pageant confirmed Friday that the 23-year-old has been disqualified from the competition.
The reason, Talackova claims, is she was born male.
“She did not meet the requirements to compete despite having stated otherwise on her entry form,” stated a Miss Universe Canada release issued on Friday.
“We do, however, respect her goals, determination and wish her the best,” it concludes, without specifying what requirements she did not meet.
Talackova set the blogosphere abuzz earlier this week after it was discovered she had sexual reassignment surgery in 2010.
Her profile and photos from the pageant’s website were subsequently pulled.
The statuesque blond told The Province Friday she needs to speak to her lawyer before taking part in interviews.
But Talackova has made statements online over Twitter about being “disqualified for being born.”
By March 18, she had apparently already been told by Miss Universe Canada her place in the competition was in jeopardy.
“Still waiting to know if I’m able to compete ... praying and fingers crossed,” she Tweeted that day.
Two days later, she got the news.
“I’m disqualified, however I’m not giving up,” she wrote, defiantly. “I’m not going to just let them disqualify me over discrimination.”
Responses to her plight posted online have been mixed.
Some have welcomed her inclusion in the competition, while others believe such pageants are for women born as women.
Miss Universe Canada contestants must meet a basic requirement of being a Canadian citizen and between the ages of 18 and 27 to compete.
They also must not be married, pregnant, and have to fill out a more comprehensive form if they meet the basic requirements.
There is no mention of rules regarding sex-changes or cosmetic surgery.
Talackova has been rather open about her transsexual past online.
During an interview for a transsexual beauty pageant in Thailand — Miss International Queen 2010 — the Canadian representative refers to herself as “a woman, with a history.”
That history includes recognizing herself as a female since the age of four and beginning hormone therapy when she was 14.
source.
eta: cut fixed, I have no idea whaat happened. I went to bed shortly after posting this to the queue
People are terrible.
It shouldn't matter.
Edited at 2012-03-25 03:43 am (UTC)
>“disqualified for being born.”
EXACTLY.
>others believe such pageants are for women born as women.
EWWWW. I MEAN, REALLY? REALLY, PEOPLE? I'm not naive enough not to know that many cis people think this is even a credible opinion and that these same people don't think trans women are "real women" - and the same goes for discrimination against trans men - but sometimes I don't want to live in this world.
There you go, then.
I've heard of some pageants having rules that state that "cosmetic and other superficial surgery" was against the rules. If that was the case with this pageant, than the people behind it could make the case that the sex-change was "cosmetic" and disqualify Jenna. They would have a case, and as much as I would hate it, it would technically be in their right to disqualify Jenna.
However, their rules mention no such thing. In fact, there is no mention of sex-changes or other surgeries being against the rules. Therefore, they had no right to kick Jenna out because she was born male.Now, if they said "all ladies in our pageant must have a GPA of 3.3" and Jenna had a GPA of 3,0, they could kick her out because of that; and that would be fair. BUT, that does not appear to be the case.
Maybe Jenna did lie about something on her entry form. I don't know. I haven't seen the form and I don't know Jenna. But, at this point, it really does look like she was kicked out because she was born male. And that is really quite vile and unjust.
That's the sticking point in this case.
Not saying it is right to disqualify but since you mentioned the rules, I thought you might like the added info.
She's pretty damn hot, too.
I'm not a US citizen or anything but are there petitions or anything like that for her?
I just saw a picture of her too, she is absolutely STUNNING.
I'm actually wondering now if some competitor saw how gorgeous she was and decided to get her axed to up their own chances...