GLAAD win's Miss Universe Debate

[MrsKellyPierce]

In the pageants!

[Marie Thorne]

I kind of wish pre-op trans chicks could compete though, but at least it's an improvement.

[MrsKellyPierce]

Someday

[RallyCola]

http://www.queerty.com/glaad-gets-rejected-transgender-miss-universe-canada-back-in-competition-20120403/

for all those that didn't know yet.

i wonder how this is going to affect the voting AND tv coverage of her

[rxpharm]

The story isn't completely clear yet, here's more detail from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:


The Miss Universe Organization says it might reverse an earlier decision and allow a transgender Vancouver woman to enter the Miss Universe Canada pageant.

Jenna Talackova, 23, was born male, leading organizers to disqualify her last month as a finalist in the 61st Miss Universe Canada pageant in May.

The rules of the contest run by Donald Trump's New York City-based organization say entrants must be "naturally born" females. Talackova underwent a sex change four years ago.

But shortly after Talackova announced a news conference in Los Angeles with high-profile lawyer Gloria Allred for Tuesday, the New York-based Miss Universe Organization said in a statement on the Miss Universe Canada website that Talackova can compete "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions."

The statement did not elaborate and messages seeking clarification from Miss Universe organizers were not immediately returned.

Vancouver constitutional lawyer Joe Arvay, who is on Talackova's legal team, told The Associated Press that Miss Universe Canada's latest statement about Canadian legal gender recognition requirements is "incomprehensible."

"I have no idea what they're talking about," he said.

Arvay said the pageant requirement for "natural born" females does not comply with Canadian human rights legislation and that a complaint will be filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

"In the absence of clarity, we will be proceeding," Arvay said. "At the present time, it's gobbledygook."

Allred's office said its news conference is still proceeding as planned.

Transgender status no secret

The disqualification won Talackova widespread sympathy and raised the question of whether the pageant has the right to decide who is female.

Her change of gender was hardly a secret before the event because she had competed in the 2010 Tiffany Miss International Queen Competition for transgendered and transsexual women in Pattaya, Thailand. In a video interview for that pageant, she said she had lived her life as a female since age 4, began hormone therapy at 14 and changed sex at 19.

"I regard myself as a woman with a history," she said.

Connie McNaughton, Miss World Canada in 1984 and first runner-up for the world crown, had called the decision outdated and discriminatory. Prof. Patrizia Gentile of Ottawa's Carleton University, who did a dissertation on beauty pageants, equated the ban with the exclusion of blacks and Jews from pageants in earlier times.

From the conservative side of Canadian society, Gwen Landolt, national vice-president of REAL Women of Canada, said the pageant was simply being realistic in barring Talackova. There needs to be more clarification what the Miss Universe organization means by their statement: "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions."

At least things are going in the right direction, and hopefully she will be allowed to compete.

[Tika]

For Canada, you'd need to update your birth certificate to show F instead of M.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changing_legal_gender_assignment_in_Canada

It varies by province. There's no "legal gender recognition requirements" in Canada, as such. Not that I could find on a quick search, anyways. There's also some anti-discrimination stuff with the Ontario Human Rights Code that should be relevant

http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/issues/gender_identity

[Marie Thorne]

Trans rights slowly march on. Someday we'll have all the rights we need but for now, we'll just have to make do with the little victories like this one.

[bluesoul]

bill o'reilly sticks up for transgender miss universe contestant (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/02/456714/bill-oreilly-sticks-up-for-transgender-miss-universe-contestant/?mobile=nc), which suddenly makes me think there is more to this story....

[APD2]

Does anyone here know this girl in real life or spoken to her online?

I mean what sort of person competes openly in one of the biggest transsexual beauty contests in Thaliand and then afterwards goes stealth to compete against genetic females in Canada?

[Marie Thorne]

I don't know, an awesome, sexy one? Because really, it's just super cool that she's doing it, you know? If she could win, that'd be soooooo awesome.

[Yoda Rules!]

I think that this is an important step in the progression of transgender rights. Unfortunately the reasoning to allow the contestant to compete is based more upon ratings and publicity rather than the beauty of the contestant. That being said, I hope that Jenna has a strong background as the right wing media will look for anything to discredit her.

Either way, this has to be considered a step in the right direction :) Congratulations to all of my TS friends!

[LibertyHarkness]

she needs to milk the media coverage .. as she will be ridiculed by many, and hounded etc .. so she wants to play smart and try get as much benefits from this exposure as she can ....

She wont win thats clearly evident now ... but ratings yes the TV show will love the boom in traffic/exposure this will garn them :) alas she will be nothing more than a publicity stunt now for the show if she is allowed to participate ..

But i guess its good in a way to bring TS into more mainstream, if you can call miss world shows mainstream these days .. they seem to be a dying thing ..

[GrimFusion]

About time. Pageants are about beauty, not genitalia. I wish they were about genitalia, though. I'd actually give a fuck about pageants if the stage were full of exposed muff.

[Jackal]

I wish Jenna the best, she is so beautiful and she should not have been treated like this by the contest and much of the media. I hope she knows a lot of people are cheering her on and wishing her the best.

[Jacko]

She's hotter than most of the other "women" in the pageant!!!

[Jennifer_English]

Recent Developments...

http://www.tmz.com/2012/04/03/transgender-beauty-queen-miss-universe-gloria-allred/#.T3vsl1FsjHg

http://www.tmz.com/2012/04/03/donald-trump-no-apology-transgender-miss-universe/#.T3vs4lFsjHg

[robertlouis]

Recent Developments...

http://www.tmz.com/2012/04/03/transgender-beauty-queen-miss-universe-gloria-allred/#.T3vsl1FsjHg

http://www.tmz.com/2012/04/03/donald-trump-no-apology-transgender-miss-universe/#.T3vs4lFsjHg

Thanks Jennifer. How edifying (not) to recall that the Republican presidential candidates were falling over themselves to get the support of that sexist cretin Donald Trump.

Go Jenna!

[FreddieGomez]

Although I'm happy, my only problem with this is the fact that these type of pageants should be based on natural beauty, which most trannies just don't have.
The vast majority of the genetic female contestants do not have breast implants, nose jobs, reconstructive surgery, hormones. ect...They are more natural. I doubt she'd win for that fact alone and it's most likely a gimmick to increase ratings.

I'm not trying to be offensive, i just don't agree.

There should be special transgender pageant instead.

[MrsKellyPierce]

Although I'm happy, my only problem with this is the fact that these type of pageants should be based on natural beauty, which most trannies just don't have.
The vast majority of the genetic female contestants do not have breast implants, nose jobs, reconstructive surgery, hormones. ect...They are more natural. I doubt she'd win for that fact alone and it's most likely a gimmick to increase ratings.

I'm not trying to be offensive, i just don't agree.

There should be special transgender pageant instead.
You are kidding me right??

You must not of grown up with any pageant girls...

I come from a family of them

[martin48]

Is Donald Trump involved in everything in the States? Confused Brit

[innocentbychoice]

In a way I feel like it's not necessary to include transgendered women in a pageant made for biological women; I mean every contest has its rules, just like you can't be eligible for The Voice if you can't sing, they were saying that you couldn't be eligible if you weren't born biologically a girl. Which I think it's fair, i'ts their contest and they make the rules. I mean it's just a freaking beauty contest, it's not like it's a life or death matter so I didn't see the big deal when they said in the beginning that she couldn't continue.

At the same time, I think this is so good for TS women and all the exposure this is getting is great.

[MrsKellyPierce]

Is Donald Trump involved in everything in the States? Confused Brit
He owns the pageant system