Miss Universe Canada selected Jenna Talackova as a finalist for the 2012 competition.

But, that was before they found out that she was born male (“assigned male at birth” to be exact).

Can’t have that!

Yes, the pageant immediately disqualified her, wishing her the best in her life outside their little event. Sorry, just the rules; no discrimination here, they said.

There was some controversy about 35 years ago when an MTF transsexual named Renee Richards applied for membership in the WTA – the governing body for women’s tennis. In that case, one may have had reason to allege that a person born male might have some physical advantages in terms of strength and size over those born female, and there was some hand-wringing then about the fairness involved.

After a landmark court decision in favor of transsexual rights, they accepted her. (Whatever advantages her chromosomal makeup may have bestowed, she never won a single major tournament, BTW.) Eventually she was inducted into the WTA Hall of Fame.

Here, in a beauty pageant, where any masculinity is a distinct disadvantage, a win by a t-girl would be something of a miracle, but where’s the harm in letting her compete, or even win? It would simply prove that transsexual women are women and can measure up to the most exacting standards of femininity (at least those as seen by pageant organizers).

Is it so terrible to treat a person as the real-world person they are instead of what the Xs and Os on their documentation classify them to be?

They must have been worried about the embarrassment had she won… Canada would have been the laughing stock of the otherwise weighty pageant sector, with jokes about how Canada couldn’t field one single young woman within its borders who was more beautiful and poised than a man.

But, she is not a man. And, the pageant’s inability to recognize this simple fact is quickly becoming an embarrassment for Canada as yet another episode of intolerance towards trans people (see our specifically restrictive airline boarding requirements).

For a generally accommodating and progressive country, this is quite a disappointment.