After previously competing in the 2010 Miss International Queen pageant for transgender and transsexual women in Thailand,[6] Talackova registered to compete in Miss Universe Canada 2012.[7] Sources are in conflict as to whether she identified herself as transgender on her application; however, after she was selected as one of the Top 65 applicants who would proceed to the pageant, a person who recognized her from Miss International Queen contacted the Miss Universe Canada organizers, and the organization then disqualified Talackova because she was born a man on the grounds that the pageant rules required its competitors to be "naturally born" women.