Reuters: Lifestyle: Miss Universe changes rules to include transgender women

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Miss Universe changes rules to include transgender women Apr 10th 2012, 13:04 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Trump overrules rejection of transgender beauty queen Tue, Apr 3 2012 "Smash" producers get top award by gay media group Mon, Mar 26 2012 New York gay hotel looks to thriving LGBT tourism Fri, Mar 16 2012 Analysis & Opinion Quality of states' internal audits varies widely Muni CDS goes 'bang' Related Topics Entertainment » Fashion » Lifestyle » Canadian model Jenna Talackova attends a news conference in Los Angeles, California April 3, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:04am EDT (Reuters) - The Miss Universe pageant is changing its rules and will allow transgender women to take part in all of its competitions starting in 2013, the organization and gay rights group GLAAD said on Tuesday. Tuesday's decision follows a media outcry over the disqualification of Canadian contestant Jenna Talackova from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada contest because she was not a "naturally born female." Talackova 23, who underwent gender reassignment surgery when she was 19, was reinstated to the Canadian competition last week by businessman Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe organization. Talackova has a Canadian passport, driver's license and other documents that identify her as a woman Following consultations with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Miss Universe "discussed a policy change that includes transgender women in time for the start of this fall's 2013 pageant season; a time when most of the competitions around the world begin to take place," the two groups said in a joint statement. The change brings Miss Universe into line with other groups that have taken a stand against discrimination of transgender women, including the Olympics, the Girl Scouts of America and TV show "America's Next Top Model", GLAAD said. "We have a long history of supporting equality for all women and this was something we took very seriously," said Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization. The exact language, which will abolish the long-standing rule that contestants must be "naturally born females," is still being worked out, officials said. National beauty pageants are currently being held around the world to chose contestants to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe contest, to be held later this year. (Reporting By Jill Serjeant) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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