Transgender woman sues after being refused by beauty pageant

A Canadian transgender woman is suing a beauty pageant company for refusing to allow her to compete in its contest, according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom, which represents the business.

Jessica Yaniv, a transgender LQBTQ rights activist, filed a human rights complaint against Toronto’s Canada Galaxy Pageants alleging it is in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code, the conservative legal policy organization announced Monday.

In May 2019, Yaniv, whose biological sex is male, applied to be a contestant in the pageant’s “28 Years and Older Division” but did not disclose she was transgender and had yet to complete gender reassignment surgery, the Justice Centre alleged.

Yaniv was “tentatively accepted” to the pageant but the business had a formal policy stating only genetic females, or transgender women who had fully transitioned, were allowed to be contestants, the Justice Centre said.

When Yaniv was “reminded” of the policy, she filed a complaint alleging the pageant company engaged in discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression and sex.

She is seeking $10,000 in damages for “injury to dignit... (Read more)

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