Good Luck Jenna!

Jenna Talackova has arrived in Toronto for the Miss Canada Universe pageant and what she hopes will be a successful history making conclusion to the end of her week of competition.

As you loyal TransGriot readers are aware of she fought a pitched battle to remain a contestant in the 2012 Miss Canada Universe pageant after she was disqualified under the bogus 'natural born woman' rule.

That rule was instituted by pageant owner Donald Trump after the 2001 Miss Universe pageant competition in Puerto Rico included rumors that Miss France Elodie Gossuin was a transwoman.


Talackova was reinstated after her dismissal sparked worldwide outrage, an online petition that garnered over 30,000 signatures and saw Los Angeles based attorney Gloria Allred taking up her case. 

The natural born woman' rule has been dropped and all national pageants in the Miss Universe system starting in 2013 will be open to transwomen in those nations who meet the Miss Universe pageant contestant eligibility requirements.


But many pageant fans eyes around the world this week will turn toward the Great White North and be focused on the 23 year old Talackova's history making turn as the first open transwomen to compete in a predominately cis female pageant. 

You still have time to vote for Jenna in the Miss Canada Universe's People's Choice Award that will be announced on May 17

The people checking out the happenings in Toronto will include my pageant happy transsisters from the Philippines and Thailand and probably China's Chen Lili.   She was the 2004 Miss China delegate but was denied the opportunity to compete because of that now defunct 'natural born woman' rule.  

She's got 65 people she's competing against for the honor of representing Canada in the upcoming Miss Universe pageant that is scheduled.to be held in December 2012 in a venue to be determined.  

If she does win the Miss Universe Canada one, she would make history again as the first open trans contestant to compete and win her national pageant in addition to becoming the first transwoman to openly compete in the Miss Universe pageant.

Wouldn't that cause a major spike in the television ratings for the 2012 Miss Universe pageant?

Best of luck Jenna.  Your trans sisters in your home and native land and around the globe are rooting for you to win. 

Even if you don't leave Toronto on May 19 with the crown, you did something far more important by fighting an injustice aimed at you, jump starting a worldwide conversation about our humanity, femininity and getting people to recognize how transphobic and stupid that 'natural born woman' rule was.

You also smashed a glass ceiling by getting this iconic pageant system to open its doors to young transwomen around the world who may have dreamed of winning this title and can now make it happen.

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STRAP Leads The Way In The Philippines Trans Pageant Debate

As I've pointed out a few times in blog posts and am quite aware of, the Philippines is a serious pageant loving nation. 

It is also the home of the Amazing Philippine Beauties pageant, one of the world's premiere beauty pageants for trans women.

STRAP chair Naomi Fontanos and I have had conversations in the wake of the latest Miss Universe contests when we were done catching up on each other's lives and talking shop in which we discussed those pageants with ESPN sports analyst like precision. 

So it didn't surprise me that the Talackova flap would make its way across the Pacific to the Philippines where there is discussion and heated debate building in that nation about the opening up of the Miss Universe system pageants around the world next year to trans women.    

The STRAP women and their allies are leading the way to insure that the debate in their nation is a reasoned, informed and educated one and not one that devolves into being founded on ignorant stereotypes and faith-based disinformation about trans women.

Check out the videos to see what I'm talking about.   The report is in English, Naomi pops in to speak a few minutes into the first one.




Part 2


Naomi also had an appearance on a local television news show Wednesday night Philippines time (Tuesday on our side of the International Date Line)  in which she was paired with former Miss Philippines and 1999 Miss Universe 1st runner up Miriam Quiambao who is opposed to transwomen competing in the pageant.

According to a comment posted on Fontanos' FB page:. 

1999 Bb. Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) & Miss Universe 1st Runner-up Miriam Quiambao. Miriam does not believe that transgender women are women and should join the Miss Universe.

In a tweet, she asked, "What ever happened to the essence of a woman?" Well, for me the essence of a woman goes beyond her reproductive capacity. Women are multidimensional beings and should not be reduced to a singular aspect of themselves. The essence of being a woman is her existence, the truth and reality of her life that she herself has shaped.

And to piggyback on your eloquent comment sis, gender is between your ears, not your legs.

STRAP is considered one of the premiere trans rights organizations on the planet, and in their 10th anniversary year they are proving once again why they are held in such high esteem by international trans activists around the world. 

Melissa Harris- Perry On The Talackova Pageant Issue

Love Melissa Harris Perry's show and it was interesting to hear her take on the Talackova pageant controversy.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Talackova Press Conference

There was a press conference yesterday in Los Angeles as Canadian transwoman Jenna Talackova continued her fight along with her attorney Gloria Allred to take down the odiously transphobic 'natural born woman' rule that the Miss Universe pageant system has used since 2001 to bar trans contestants from competing in it.

Here's the money video from that press conference courtesy of CNN.

Talackova Will Be Allowed To Compete In Miss Canada Universe Pageant

Amazing what a little international publicity, a Change.org pettition with over 40,000 signatures, social media outrage and hiring Gloria Allred as your attorney will do to overcome blatant anti-trans discrimination.

The Trump-owned Miss Universe organization bowed to the media firestorm and reversed their decision to bar Ms. Talackova from the Miss Universe Canada pageant because she was trans.   The 23 year old Vancouver born beauty was selected as one of the 65 contestants to participate in the May 19 event in Toronto.


“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,” Michael D. Cohen, executive vice president and special counsel to Donald Trump, said in an email.

Talackova was scheduled to appear in a press conference in Los Angeles with Allred later today to outline why she should be allowed to compete and the steps Allred was preparing to take on behalf of her client if it didn't happen.

The Miss Universe Canada website states that to enter, women must be a Canadian citizen between the ages of 18 and 27.  If basic requirements are met, they are asked to fill out a longer application form.  The entry form does not mention any rules against sexual reassignment surgery or plastic surgery.

The nebulous 'natural born woman' rule they instituted in 2001 was bull feces to begin with.  Hopefully the Miss Universe organization will permanently do away with that discriminatory and transphobic rule so that transwomen who desire to compete in the Miss Universe national pageants around the world and meet the entrance requirements will no longer be barred from doing so. 

Good luck Jenna.  You're on your way to making some trans history when you step on the stage next month.   I and your transsisters around the world hope that you at least make the semifinalist round in the Miss Canada Universe pageant.

And if you're blessed enough to win the 2012 Miss Canada Universe title, we'll be cheering for you at the Miss Universe pageant in December