Transgendered beauty contestant Jenna Talackova is a universe away from her days as a bullied and ostracized teen - literally.
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| The 2012 Miss Universe Canada contestants were on hand at a hotel near Pearson International Airport for a group photo, including controversial contestant Jenna Talackova. The pageant will be held May 19, 2012 at the Bluma Appel Theatre in downtown Toronto. |
In about a week, Talakova, 23, will be competing for the Miss Universe Canada crown, something that almost didn’t happen after the Vancouver native was bounced from the contest in March following the discovery that the tall blonde had been born male.
Her much-publicized ouster prompted Talackova to hire a lawyer. It also sparked outrage from members of the public, gender-diversity groups and human-rights organizations.
The Donald Trump-owned Miss Universe organization reinstated the 6-ft-1 blonde in April.
Talakova was on-hand Saturday - along with the pageant’s 62 other contestants - at the Sandman Signature Hotel in Toronto for a bikini photo shoot in preparation for the upcoming contest.
Talackova had gender reassignment surgery in 2010, but began hormone therapy and taking testosterone-blocking drugs while as a 14-year-old at Vancouver’s Killarney Secondary School.
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Jenna Talackova, the first transgendered Miss Universe contestant, is seen prior to a photo shoot at the Sandman Signature Hotel in Toronto on Saturday, May 12, 2012, in advance of next Saturday’s Miss Universe Canada pageant. |
Her body almost immediately began going through stark and noticeable changes.
Not everyone was understanding. And while Talackova says she was never physically beaten, the verbal abuse was, at least for a while, a daily grind.
“The bullying was very intense,” she said. “Some of the guys were, like, ‘Oh, new hot girl’ ... Everybody was stalking (me at) my locker. I couldn’t go in the hallway and I had to leave during lunch and break for a while. It was too much.”
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| Jenna Talackova, the first transgender Miss Universe contestant, is seen on stage during the preliminary round of the Miss Universe Canada contest in Toronto on Thursday, May 17, 2012. |
Talackova, who claims to have recently inked a deal to write a book about becoming a woman, also lost friends.
“I have lost some friends over it, when I was younger,” she says, brushing long, cork-screwed waves of blonde hair from her shoulder. “Or more like friends who (were no longer allowed to) hang out with me.”
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| Jenna Talackova, center, the first transgendered Miss Universe contestant, is seen on stage with other competitors during the preliminary round of the Miss Universe Canada contest in Toronto. |
Now, Talackova, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and Czechoslovakian father, is a world away from high school. She is back as a pageant participant, and reportedly has hopes of one day marrying and having children.
She currently has a boyfriend of two years, but declined to talk about him, save for calling him “the most heterosexual man you’ll ever meet.”
| Transgendered beauty contestant takes a run at Miss Universe |
She also seems to have been accepted by her peers.
“It’s great that she has been allowed back,” current Miss Universe Canada title holder Chelsae Durocher said. “The rules were outdated. It is a changing society, (and) the changes reflect the true Canadian belief system.”
| Transgendered Miss Universe Canada contestant prepares for pageant (with photos) |
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