Pageant application and human rights complaint
Jonathan Yaniv was born a biological male but self-identifies as female, taking the name Jessica Yaniv and more recently, Jessica Simpson.
In May 2019, Yaniv applied to be a contestant in the Canada Galaxy Pageant—a Toronto-based beauty pageant for women and girls. Yaniv did not mention being transgender in the application, which was tentatively accepted.
At the time, Canada Galaxy Pageants did not accept transgender contestants. However, the organization changed its policy days later after receiving multiple inquiries from transgender women wanting to compete. The updated policy allowed transgender women who had fully transitioned and no longer had male genitals to participate. Contestants, including girls as young as six years old, change clothing and undress in common areas. No males (including contestants’ fathers or male guardians) are permitted in those spaces, to protect the privacy and comfort of contestants. Teens and older contestants are also able to compete in a swimwear category.
When the Pageant asked Yaniv whether a full transition had taken place, Yaniv refused to answer. Yaniv then filed a human rights complaint, alleging that the Pageant had violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by discriminating on the basis of gender identity, gender expression, and sex. Yaniv is seeking $10,000 in damages for “injury to dignity and feelings,” and is asking the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to rule that an organization cannot refuse service to someone solely because that person has male genitals.
Past complaints and tribunal findings
Yaniv is no stranger to lodging human rights complaints. In October 2019, the BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed complaints filed by Yaniv against several Vancouver-area estheticians who provided Brazilian bikini waxing services to women. Many of these providers worked from their own homes, some had young children, and many were immigrants for whom English was not their first language.
The Tribunal found that “Yaniv’s predominant motive in filing her waxing complaints is not to prevent or remedy alleged discrimination, but to target small businesses for personal financial gain. In many of these complaints, she is also motivated to punish racialized and immigrant women based on her perception that certain ethnic groups, namely South Asian and Asian communities, are ‘taking over’ and advancing an agenda hostile to the interests of LGBTQ+ people.”
A hearing date before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has not yet been set. Galaxy’s lawyer, provided by the Justice Centre, has requested that the complaint be dismissed without a full hearing, based on several legal grounds. The last correspondence from the Tribunal was received in January 2025. A hearing date remains pending.
Legal response and public interest concerns
“Biological women and girls must continue to have the freedom to associate with other biological women and girls in activities that serve their unique interests and needs as females,” stated constitutional lawyer Allison Pejovic. “Further, this beauty pageant has already made reasonable accommodations for fully transitioned transgender females without male genitals,” she added.
“It is imperative that biological women and girls, and fully transitioned transgender females, 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. For reasons of safety and security, it is imperative that biological women and girls, and fully transitioned transgender females, have spaces where they can associate free from the presence of individuals with male genitals. This is particularly so in situations where women and girls are exposed or vulnerable,” noted Ms. Pejovic.
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario asked to dismiss case
On July 8, 2025, lawyers provided by the Justice Centre called upon the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to dismiss this long-standing complaint against Canada Galaxy Pageants, originally filed in 2019. Despite the repeated failure of Yaniv (now Simpson) to meet deadlines or file proper submissions in this matter, the Tribunal has allowed the case to continue until now.
The Pageant maintains that it has made reasonable accommodations for fully transitioned transgender women, but cites serious safety and privacy concerns about admitting individuals with male genitalia into backstage changerooms with girls.
A decision on whether the complaint will be dismissed or proceed to a hearing remains pending.
Tribunal dismisses case
After more than five years of delays and procedural wrangling, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has finally closed the file on Jessica Simpson’s complaint against Canada Galaxy Pageants.
On July 28, 2025, the Tribunal dismissed the complaint due to Simpson’s repeated failure to submit the necessary hearing materials—despite being granted multiple extensions.
The pageant was fully prepared to defend itself, with several parents and female contestants ready to testify about the importance of maintaining female-only spaces in the context of a girls’ beauty competition.
“Sometimes justice is served before parties set foot into a hearing,” said constitutional lawyer Allison Pejovic.
“After five years of delays on the Tribunal’s end and then giving Jessica Simpson many chances to properly prepare for the hearing, the Tribunal did the right thing to dismiss Simpson’s complaint of discrimination based on gender identity and expression,” she added.
Although the Tribunal did not dismiss the complaint as frivolous, Ms. Pejovic emphasized that “the Tribunal’s decision still sends a strong message about the importance of procedural integrity.”
The Justice Centre commends Canada Galaxy Pageants for taking a principled stand in defence of parental rights and female-only safe spaces.
