Lawyer says Jenna Talackova “indubitably” meets Canadian legal gender requirements

According to downtown Vancouver-based lawyer barbara findlay, there are two issues at play with respect to Canadian law.

“The first is whether an individual has a birth certificate that reflects the correct gender,” findlay told the Straight by phone. “The second, in Canada, is whether or not you have a birth certificate reflecting your accurate gender. It is illegal to discriminate against you on that basis in Canada. So, Jenna Talackova indubitably meets the requirements for recognition as a woman under Canadian law.”

As to the requirements of international competitions, findlay said she did not know anything about that.

“However, Donald Trump will not be able to hide behind an argument that other beauty pageants have discriminatory requirements to justify a discriminatory provision in his own contests,” findlay added. “Under human rights law it is no defence that someone else is equally discriminating.”