A transgender woman has been disqualified from the Miss Universe Canada pageant because she is not a natural born female. Pageant officials say the rules are very clear about requirements and 23-year-old Jenna Talackova, who was born a male but underwent gender reassignment surgery at age 19, does not meet them.
"She was hoping we could put her back in the competition, but the rules are very clear, and there's no way we can go back on it,” Miss Universe Canada national director Denis Davila said.
The pageant organization said Talackova lied on registration forms about being a natural born female. Despite the issue, the organization said they “respect her goals, determination and wish her the best.” Talackova was disqualified last Friday.
"I'm disqualified, however I'm not giving up," she tweeted. "I'm not going to just let them disqualify me over discrimination."
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