The winner of a national transgender beauty pageant has had her title stripped from her as she is ‘not transgender enough’.
Jai Dara Latto, from Peeblesshire, Scotland was named Miss Transgender UK in a glittering ceremony in London last year.
But six months on, Rachael Bailey, organiser of the pageant, has removed Jai’s title and is set to crown another beauty queen, Daisy Bell, the winner after seeing video footage of the model in boxer shorts.
It also reportedly shows Jai working out at the gym in a T-shirt and shorts.
The recording was taken as part of a BBC Three documentary called Miss Transgender to be shown next month.
Bailey told the Scotsman: “When Jai entered the competition, she said she was full time and she is not, she is a drag queen.
“When I confronted her, she just said that I didn’t have a leg to stand on and it is difficult. It is basically one transgender person saying to another ‘You’re not transgender enough to be in our competition’. It sounds daft when you put it like that.”
She added: “The documentary showed her living as a gay male in her boxer shorts.
“Underwear is very important to transgender females – one of the first thing people do is change their underwear as it makes us feel like we are finally a woman.”
Latto rejects the claim that she is a “drag queen” or a “part-time” woman, saying that she has already begun hormone treatment to become biologically female.She is currently awaiting gender reassignment treatment in Scotland, having declined the pageant surgery prize.
She told the newspaper: “I am transgender. It seems to me that Rachael has based [the claim] on her subjective opinion from having viewed the documentary Miss Transgender, which is yet to be aired.”
“I gave consideration to sharing a letter from my doctor on my gender dysphoria [the feeling your psychological identity as male or female is opposite to your biological sex] but decided against it.
“The documentary clearly shows me living full time in my community functioning on a daily basis interacting with family, friends and others in my desired gender role.
“Being transgender is not some exclusive club. There are many of us in it and we are all different from one another.”
In April the 23-year-old beauty queen is to hike 30 miles in high heels to highlight the issues faced by those awaiting gender transition.
The main prize for the competition was to have £10,000 of surgery in India.
