Transgender Beauty Queen Jenna Talackova Calls On Donald Trump to Scratch "Gender Requirement" Rule

Miss Universe Organization honcho says he has nothing to apologize for after ban on Talackova competing was reversed

By Natalie Finn Apr 03, 2012 10:54 PMTags
Jenna TalackovaKevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Jenna Talackova isn't afraid to tangle with Donald Trump—and neither is her attorney, the ubiquitous Gloria Allred.

Talackova, the transgender Miss Universe Canada hopeful who was initially disqualified from the competition for not being a "naturally born female" but was told just yesterday that she would be allowed to compete if she can meet her country's "legal gender recognition requirements," is calling on Trump to scratch the whole rule.

And Allred told reporters at a news conference today that her client never asked Trump to prove he was born a man or show her his "anatomy," so "why should it have made a difference to him" how Talackova was born?

Apparently all Trump heard, however, was "Gloria Allred is talking about my penis."

"I think Gloria Allred would be very impressed," Trump told TMZ in an interview about the Talackova controversy.

The Celebrity Apprentice host also said that, while his Miss Universe Organization reversed its earlier ban on the Canadian beauty, he has nothing to apologize for and "couldn't care less" whether Talackova competes or not.

But the 23-year-old, who underwent gender reassignment surgery at 19, hasn't asked for an apology—she just hopes that things will be different from here on out.

"I am a woman," she said in a statement today. "I was devastated and I felt that excluding me for the reason that they gave was unjust. I have never asked for any special consideration. I only wanted to compete.

"I saw the statement by Mr. Trump's representative that was issued yesterday, and I find it quite confusing," she said of the Miss Universe Organization's stipulation that she was free to participate "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions."

She continued: "I wish Mr. Trump would just say, in plain words, whether or not I will be allowed to compete and, if I win, whether I will be allowed to represent Canada in the Miss Universe competition. I also want Mr. Trump to clearly state that this rule will be eliminated because I do not want any other woman to suffer the discrimination that I have to endure."

And it probably goes without saying that neither she nor Allred cares to check out Trump's claim of manly superiority for themselves.

"Gloria Allred's statements to the press today pay no mind to the fact that Mr. Trump and the Miss Universe Organization made the fair and just decision in allowing Jenna to compete in the Miss Universe 2012 Canada pageant," Michael D. Cohen, executive VP of the Trump Organization, tells E! News, clarifying his boss's remarks to TMZ.

"Mr. Trump and the Miss Universe Organization acted swiftly and appropriately. Pageant rules have been modernized to ensure this type of issue does not occur again. Gloria's arguments were made moot by the decision rendered yesterday. We hope Jenna will now turn her focus to preparing for the upcoming competition. Like all the contestants, Mr. Trump wishes Jenna the best of luck in her quest for the crown."

—Additional reporting by Holly Passalaqua