Beauty Pageants & Transgendered People

[Screen Legend]

This topic stems from this recent news article. It's about a gorgeous young woman by the name of Jenna Talackova who was disqualified from the Miss Universe Canada pageant for not being a 'naturally-born female' [she was born male].

Now, the question I'm asking is this: people as young as kindergarteners have always identified with being male [if they were born female] or female [if they were born male]. Do you think that pageant rules should be changed to encompass this group of people?

I, personally, feel that the rules should be changed. This is a different world than it was way back when.

 

[Clara Oswald]

On the one hand, I couldn't care less whether this guy's in the pageant or not. But on the other if you think about it, if they're going to do this they might as well let drag queens enter, or change the competition to "Person of the Universe" and let men and women enter.

 

[Black King]

On the one hand, I couldn't care less whether this guy's in the pageant or not. But on the other if you think about it, if they're going to do this they might as well let drag queens enter, or change the competition to "Person of the Universe" and let men and women enter.

i be in favor of that actually

 

[Clara Oswald]

Might make them more interesting lol

 

[Screen Legend]

^ LOL! I'm pretty sure drag queens have their own pageants.

Here's an update on the issue:

VANCOUVER - The case of a transgendered Vancouver woman kicked out of the Miss Universe Canada pageant reached a new high on Monday, pitting Donald Trump's Miss Universe Organization against a prominent American lawyer.
Trump's New-York-based organization released a statement late Monday saying Jenna Talackova, 23, who was dropped from the beauty contest last month after admitting she was born a male, can compete in the May 19 event "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada." The statement, posted on the pageant's website, did not elaborate on what those requirements were.

The statement came shortly after Talackova announced a news conference in Los Angeles with high-profile lawyer Gloria Allred for Tuesday.

Allred's office said its news conference is still proceeding as planned and that Allred would not comment on Monday night.

Back in B.C., Canadian lawyer Joseph Arvay, who said he was retained over the weekend, said he hopes the announcement means Talackova can compete but he's not yet sure.

"It's gobbledygook to me," he said of the announcement.

When talking about the legal gender recognition requirements in Canada, human-rights laws in B.C. and Ontario apply, he said, adding those laws "prohibit discrimination based on being transgendered."

"So one would think that she therefore meets the legal gender requirements in Canada."
Arvay said he has been given instructions to begin legal proceedings against pageant organizers on the grounds that they've discriminated against Talackova and he hopes developments on Tuesday add clarity to the situation.

The decision to drop Talackova from the pageant raised her profile considerably, with pictures and YouTube videos of the six-foot-one-inch blond getting plenty of clicks. News outlets in the United States, Britain, Canada and elsewhere picked up the story.

Talackova vowed to keep up the fight and is urging supporters to sign an online petition calling for her reinstatement. By Monday night, more than 40,000 people had signed the petition, which calls the decision to disqualify her "discriminatory, unjust, and quite frankly disgusting."

Officials with Miss Universe Canada denied the discrimination claims, saying the rules established by the Miss Universe franchise state each contestant must be a "naturally born female."

In an interview posted on YouTube during the Miss International Queen 2010 contest in Thailand, Talackova said she knew at a very young age that she was female and started hormone therapy when she was 14.

She said she went through gender reassignment surgery when she was 19.
The Miss Universe Canada pageant was created in 2002 by Beauties of Canada, which says it holds the exclusive rights to send contestants to the Miss Universe Pageant.


_ With files from The Associated Press.

 

[Arsenal]

To be honest, it is really hard for me to be sympathetic to this person. A beauty pageant, by definition, deals with judging by and through the prism of prejudice. Call me when people are this mad because the chubby girl or the dark-skinned girl did not win.

 

[ashleigh]

I don't see why she shouldn't be allowed to compete.

I wonder how many of those contestants haven't had cosmetic surgery of some kind.

 

[Karma]

Vil makes an interesting point about drag queens & their pageants. I've attended many such pageants to support friends who are Queens, some of whom ultimately turned out to be trans women. In these pageants...men & women whether natural, cis or trans are allowed to participate. But drag shows, while becoming more glamours & popular thanks in part to shows like Ru Paul's Drag Race, are still considered sort of underground & fringe.

If a trans woman wants to participate in something more "mainstream" like Miss Universe, I think she should be able to.

I read something elsewhere yesterday that said she would be allowed to participate after all. I was surprised, considering this is a donald trump entity & he is conservative.

I think the contestant being barred initially was an issue of anti-trans bias & its unfortunate. this person is female. her PHYSICAL gender reassignment surgery is but one part to bring her in line w/ who she is.

Personally - I find the whole Miss Universe franchise to be trite, outdated & a needless burdern to women.