Transgender blond gets thumbs up from Donald Trump to compete for Miss Universe

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Jenna Talackova, who advanced to the finals of the Miss Canada competition, part of the Miss Universe contest, and was recently forced out of the competition, shows her passport that lists her gender as female, at a news conference in Los Angeles Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Talackova says she was forced out of the competition because Pageant officials alleged she was not "a naturally-born female." (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A Canadian woman originally barred from the Miss Universe Pageant because she was born a male has been given the thumbs up to participate in the competition and there's a suggestion her case might allow others like her to take part in future.

Donald Trump, who runs the Miss Universe Organization, has confirmed that Jenna Talackova can compete to represent her country in the pageant and wished her luck in her quest for the crown.

Talackova, who is from Vancouver, had said she was devastated when she was originally told she'd be excluded from the pageant for not being a "natural born woman."

After issuing a statement on Tuesday clarifying Talackova could compete, Trump went on to tell ABC's Good Morning America Wednesday that Talackova's case may open up the contest to other transgender hopefuls.

"Probably, we'll have to open it up from that standpoint," he said. "Because if it's in Canada and if it's in the United States in terms of their laws and if other countries don't necessarily have those laws...it wouldn't be fair just to take certain countries."

Trump added that his pageant had followed Canadian and U.S. laws in deciding the matter.

"The laws are very clear. So, based on that about two days ago, we decided to let her compete and we hope she does well," he said.

Trump's initial statement came on the same day that Talackova and her attorney Gloria Allred urged the organization to clarify its gender requirements.

The organization said it actually made the decision Monday to let Talackova compete to become Canada's contestant. It said the 23-year-old could enter the pageant "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions." No further details were provided.

Talackova and Allred said that wasn't clear enough and demanded a clear answer during a press conference in Los Angeles.

Allred held up a copy of Talackova's Canadian passport that states she is a woman — as do her birth certificate and driver's licence — and declared the pageant's rule requiring contestants to be born women "blatant discrimination," antiquated and grounded in fear and prejudice.

Talackova, who addressed the media for the first time since the controversy erupted last month, said she wanted Trump to clearly state that the naturally-born female rule be erased.

"I do not want any other woman to suffer the discrimination that I have endured," she said. "I was devastated and felt that excluding me for the reason they gave was unjust."

The tall, slim, blond Talackova was originally accepted to take part in the May 19 Miss Universe Canada Pageant, but was later told she couldn't participate.

She had gender-reassignment surgery when she was 19.

She has never hidden her status and in fact took part in the 2010 Miss International Queen competition in Thailand, where she explained in a media interview that she knew as young as four that she was a female.

In response to Talackova and Allred's statements to the press on Tuesday, the pageant organizers issued a statement saying "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."

It also said it's evaluating its rules to ensure that type of issue does not occur again.

"There is no need to further 'evaluate,'" Allred responded late Tuesday. "The rule is blatantly discriminatory and it is time for Mr. Trump to say that he will get rid of the rule."

The rule requiring a contestant to be "naturally born female" appears to still be in effect in other countries around the world, Allred said.