Beauty Pageant Urges Dismissal of Human Rights Case Filed by Trans Activist

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A Canadian beauty pageant is urging Ontario’s human rights court to dismiss a longstanding complaint brought against it by Jessica Simpson, a transgender individual and activist.

According to a July 11 post from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), lawyers for Canada Galaxy Pageants (CGP) recently contacted the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario asking that Simpson’s 2019 complaint against it be dismissed.

Simpson tried to enter a CGP beauty pageant in 2019, and the organization asked if Simpson had fully transitioned to female. Simpson refused to respond and launched a human rights complaint, alleging the Mississauga-based beauty pageant had caused “injury to dignity and feelings” and asking $10,000 in damages as well as a reversal of its rules prohibiting biological males from competing in its female beauty pageants.

CGP allows transgender individuals to compete in pageants, but requires they be fully transitioned. It does not permit biological males with male genitalia to be in female spaces, including with young girls, with the JCCF noting that CGP’s “pageants are private events that include female competitors as young as six years old, and require participants to change together backstage.”

“Despite repeated delays, missed deadlines, and inadequate filings by Ms. Simpson, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) has allowed the case to continue—imposing years of uncertainty, stress, and reputational harm on pageant activities and its organizers,” notes the JCCF, who provided lawyers to CGP for its defence in the case.

Simpson, born Jonathan Yaniv and formerly going by Jessica Yaniv prior to Jessica Simpson, now identifies as a Métis woman named Kaskitêwâtisiwin.

Simpson and CGP were told to submit materials for a hearing in January of this year, with the pageant company filing nine witness statements, including from worried parents. According to JCCF, “Simpson repeatedly failed to meet deadlines and produced inadequate submissions,” but was nonetheless given numerous deadline extensions. Ultimately, Simpson’s mother was the only witness Simpson provided.

“It is imperative that biological women and girls have safe, secure, female-only places where they won’t have to worry about seeing male genitals, or about having individuals with male genitals looking at them,” said constitutional lawyer Allison Pejovic. “Little girls should not be exposed to male genitals. Period.”

Simpson, formerly Yaniv, made news in 2018 after lodging more than 12 human rights complaints with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal over local female beauty parlors refusing to do a Brazilian wax on Simpson’s genital area. B.C.’s tribunal found there had been no violation of Simpson’s rights.

A decision by the Ontario Tribunal whether to dismiss the complaint against CGP or give more time to Simpson to compile a case is expected to be decided in the coming weeks.

Simpson did not respond to request for comment by publication time.