Miss Universe Canada Contestant Wants WHO to Stop Stigmatizing Trans People

Former Miss Universe Canada competitor Jenna Talackova is part of an effort urging the World Health Organization to stop classifying people with transgender identities as having a mental disorder.

"I'm not sick, I'm fantastic," she says.

The effort is linked to a group of Change.org petitions asking the World Health Organization to remove transsexuality from its list of mental illnesses, taking the cue from several other countries, as well as the European Parliament, which also want the WHO to make the change. So far about 45,000 signatures have been gathered as the organization reviews its health guidelines this year.

The WHO amended its list in the 1990s to remove homosexuality from its classifications of mental disorders. The current drive wants the WHO to amend its list to end the stigmatization of transgender people in health care.

Watch Talackova's video below: