A controversial transgender activist with a long history of filing human rights complaints is once again attempting to compel a women-only beauty pageant to abandon its sex-based boundaries.

Jessica Simpson, formerly known as Jessica Yaniv, has brought a complaint before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario against Canada Galaxy Pageants (CGP), claiming the organization discriminated against her on the basis of gender identity. Simpson is demanding $10,000 in damages and a forced policy change to allow participation of biological males, regardless of transition status, in a pageant for women and girls.

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The same individual gained national notoriety in 2019 after filing a series of complaints against immigrant-owned waxing salons for refusing to wax male genitalia. The BC Human Rights Tribunal later dismissed those complaints, ruling they were filed in bad faith, with racist undertones, and intended to target vulnerable women. Simpson was ordered to pay $6,000 in costs in that case, which became known as the “wax my balls” saga.

Now, Simpson is revisiting old ground, targeting CGP over an incident that began in 2019. At that time, Simpson applied to compete in the pageant without disclosing her biological sex. Pageant organizers raised concerns when Simpson refused to confirm whether she had undergone gender reassignment surgery. The pageant’s policy, in place since its founding, permits only fully transitioned trans women—those who have undergone genital surgery—to compete in female categories. The policy is intended to protect the privacy and safety of other contestants, particularly minors, who change clothing in shared backstage areas.

According to court documents, CGP and its legal counsel at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) argue that the policy is both reasonable and necessary, and that it does not violate Ontario’s Human Rights Code.

In their July 8 filing, CGP asked the Tribunal to dismiss the complaint outright, citing Simpson’s failure to submit basic procedural requirements like a witness list or a summary of arguments—while CGP has met all deadlines and disclosures.

Constitutional lawyer Allison Pejovic is quoted in a Justice Centre press release saying, “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...Little girls should not be exposed to male genitals. Period.”

There is no legal precedent in Canada requiring private organizations to admit individuals with male genitalia into spaces designed for biological women and girls—particularly when minors are involved. 

The Human Rights Tribunal is expected to issue a decision on CGP’s request for dismissal in the coming weeks.