Donald Trump opens door to more transgender Miss Universe contestants

Donald Trump says the Miss Universe pageant is considering introducing a policy to allow transgender contestants from around the world to compete—and it's all thanks to Vancouver's Jenna Talackova.

"We'll probably have to open it up…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, who co-owns the Miss Universe Organization, said today (April 4) on ABC's Good Morning America. "So we'll probably decide—we haven't made that decision yet—but we'll probably decide to open it up."

Trump's comments come a day after Talackova and her high-profile lawyer, Gloria Allred, called on the business mogul to fight discrimination by changing the pageant's rules.

Talackova, a transsexual woman, was disqualified late last month from the Miss Universe Canada contest and then welcomed back provided she “meet the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada”.

Today, Trump said, "I think Jenna should focus on running up in Canada and seeing how she does in Canada and then, if she does well, she has a chance to become what many, many young women all over the world want to be and that's Miss Universe. That should be her focus."

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