We reported to you earlier that Jenna Talackova was born a man but started receiving hormone therapy as a teen and had gender reassignment surgery at 19 making her a woman. Jenna wanted to showcase her beauty and decided to enter the Miss Universe Canada pageant but was kicked out of the contest because she was not born a female.
Miss Universe Canada released the following statement, “Jenna Talackova from Vancouver, British Columbia will not compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada competition because she did not meet the requirements to compete despite having stated otherwise on her entry form. We do, however, respect her goals, determination and wish her the best.”
Jenna decided to stand up for herself and hired a lawyer to contest the organization’s decision.
Apparently this worked because Miss Universe Canada is now allowing her back into the contest. They released the following statement on April 2nd:
“The Miss Universe Organization will allow Jenna Talackova to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada pageant provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions.”
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) are happy about the organization’s new ruling and stated on Monday that, “The Miss Universe Organization made the right decision and has taken an important first step. Now, GLAAD urges the Organization to include all women and use this incident to speak out in support of the transgender community.”
Regardless of where you stand on the issue, this year’s pageant just got a lot more interesting.