Transgender Rights Advocate Banned from White House Events After Topless Pride Month Celebration

Photo: archive, BGNES

Transgender rights advocate Rose Montoya is no longer welcome at White House events after she posted a video on social media in which she and two others were topless for a while during Saturday’s Pride Month celebration on the South Lawn of the White House, reported the Associated Press.

“The behavior was simply unacceptable,” White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said yesterday. “It was unfair to the hundreds of participants who had come to celebrate their families.”

During the White House briefing, Jean-Pierre said: “The individuals in the video will certainly not be invited to future events.” A White House spokeswoman said the bare-breasted display was “not a normal thing that has happened under this administration.”

President Joe Biden hosted the event to show the administration’s support for the LGBT+ community. Recently, some Republican leaders at the state level have been pushing to limit drag shows and limit options for youth who want to change their gender.

Biden said Saturday that he has a message for the entire community, but especially for transgender children: “You are loved. You are heard. You are understood.”

Portions of his speech appeared in a video posted on social media by Montoya, whose Instagram bio identifies her as an educator, model and actor.

Montoya defended her post on Instagram and Twitter, saying that “topless photography in Washington is legal and I fully support the nipple liberation movement.” She stated that the criticism of her topless attire confirmed that she was, in fact, a woman, as a man would not have faced such pushback. She said she had “zero intention of trying to be vulgar in any way”, adding that she covered her nipples with her hands in the video “just to play it safe”.
(BTA, Plamen Yotinski)