Reversing its position of last week, when it denied transgender contestant Jenna Talackova from competing, organizers of the Miss Universe pageant have now said she may walk down its runway, with certain provisos. In a statement late Monday night, the Miss Universe Organization said Jenna Talackova can compete provided "she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions."
The rules of the contest run by Donald Trump's New York City-based organisation say entrants must be "naturally born" females. Talackova underwent a sex change four years ago. Talackova, 23, was dropped from the pageant two weeks ago "because I am not 'natural born,' " the Vancouver native wrote in an email to the Vancouver Sun at the time.
"That doesn't make sense because since I was conscious I always felt this way." In 2010, when she was 19, Talackova competed in Miss International Queen, a competition for transgender and transsexual people. In an interview posted on YouTube, she said she knew she was a girl at age 4.
The news came a day before Talackova was expected to hold a news conference with high-profile feminist lawyer Gloria Allred to talk about her experience. Neither Talackova nor Allred have commented since the Miss Universe decision has been reversed. Despite her pleas to stay in the pageant, her confession meant that she had been pulled from the contest that same day.
“She feels like a real girl and she is a real girl. She didn’t expect people to question it,” the Daily Mail quoted Davila as telling thestar.com. Her profile was quietly taken down from the Miss Universe Canada's finalists' page in mid-March. The 61st annual Miss Universe Canada pageant will be held next month in Toronto.
The rules of the contest run by Donald Trump's New York City-based organisation say entrants must be "naturally born" females. Talackova underwent a sex change four years ago. Talackova, 23, was dropped from the pageant two weeks ago "because I am not 'natural born,' " the Vancouver native wrote in an email to the Vancouver Sun at the time.
"That doesn't make sense because since I was conscious I always felt this way." In 2010, when she was 19, Talackova competed in Miss International Queen, a competition for transgender and transsexual people. In an interview posted on YouTube, she said she knew she was a girl at age 4.
The news came a day before Talackova was expected to hold a news conference with high-profile feminist lawyer Gloria Allred to talk about her experience. Neither Talackova nor Allred have commented since the Miss Universe decision has been reversed. Despite her pleas to stay in the pageant, her confession meant that she had been pulled from the contest that same day.
“She feels like a real girl and she is a real girl. She didn’t expect people to question it,” the Daily Mail quoted Davila as telling thestar.com. Her profile was quietly taken down from the Miss Universe Canada's finalists' page in mid-March. The 61st annual Miss Universe Canada pageant will be held next month in Toronto.
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