A beauty pageant contestant has been thrown out of the competition after she was found to be a transgender.
The Miss Universe Canada organizers removed Jenna Talackova from the contest when they found out she had undergone surgery to become a woman.
The transgendered contestant had already successfully reached the finals in the Miss Vancouver pageant before she was banned from continuing.
Although the organizers described Talackova as a “real girl” they disqualified her arguing that the rules state that each contestant must be a “naturally born female.”
According to Denis Davila, the national director of Miss Universe Canada, Talackova claimed on her registration form she was born a female. But becoming suspicious he confronted the 23-year-old about her sex change and the contestant admitted she was actually born a male.
Despite her pleas to stay in the pageant her confession meant that she was 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.
“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,” Davila said.
{{/usCountry}}“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,” Davila said.
{{/usCountry}}The decision from the Miss Universe Canada pageant, which is owned by Donald Trump, has sparked outrage with people calling for Jenna to be reinstated into the contest.
In a YouTube interview Talackova says she knew she was a female at the age of four and began hormone therapy ten years later.
The 23-year-old beauty queen, who has competed in Miss Universe pageants and transgendered pageants before, says that she surgically changed her gender aged 19.
“I regard myself as a woman with a history,” Talackova said, winking to the camera.