Transgender activist and internet influencer Rose Montoya—born a male and identifying as a bisexual and nonbinary woman—shook hands with the president of the United States on the South Lawn of the White House on June 10.
Seconds later, accompanied by two men who were shirtless, Montoya undressed above the waist, revealing breasts, before covering them again by hand. The moment was captured on video, posted online, and quickly became go-to, widely shared, and sensational theater.
Montoya and fellow activists performed their demonstration at a Pride Month event that the White House held to celebrate LGBT people and their history and accomplishments, and to call attention to the challenges they face.
The surprise, provocative, and outlandish performance upset and drew the condemnation of the White House, which called it disrespectful.
Other and more pointed criticism claimed that the activists co-opted and sacrificed at least some of the goodwill of the event, and also placed grandstanding and self-aggrandizement ahead of the cause.
Denouncing the Action
“This behavior is inappropriate and disrespectful for any event at the White House,” said a statement released by the White House.“It is not reflective of the event we hosted to celebrate LGBT families or the other hundreds of guests who were in attendance. Individuals in the video will not be invited to future events.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the controversy in her June 13 briefing.
“The behavior was simply unacceptable. We’ve been very clear about that,” said Jean-Pierre at the briefing.
“It was unfair to the hundreds of attendees who were there to celebrate their families. So, you know, we’re going to continue to be clear on that, and that type of behavior is, as I said, unacceptable. It’s inappropriate, it’s disrespectful. And it really does not reflect the event that we hosted to celebrate the LGBT families.”
In a statement sent to The Epoch Times, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtine, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality/NCTE Action Fund, said: “This behavior was inappropriate, and it is important to understand that the actions of a single individual do not define an entire community.
“Transgender people have families and cherish family-friendly events just like anyone else.”
LGBT Influencer Is Not Sorry
Montoya is a powerhouse on social media with 575,000 fans on TikTok and 104,000 followers on Instagram, as well as almost 11,600 followers on Twitter.Montoya responded to the controversy with commentary in a video posted on social media.
“Conservatives are trying to use the video of me topless at the White House to try to call the community groomers, etcetera; and I would just like to say that, first of all, going topless in Washington, D.C., is legal,” said Montoya in the video.
“And I fully support the movement in freeing the nipple because why is my chest now deemed inappropriate or illegal when I show it off? However, before coming out as trans, it was not?”
Montoya received strong and negative backlash on social media pages for the behavior at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
And among those who took exception to Montoya’s explanation and defense—and the behavior itself—there were several respondents who voiced apprehension and anger that Montoya, with this stunt, may have harmed the LGBT march and striving for acceptance.
“Way to set the movement for equal rights back! It’s the ... White House. Have some respect,” went one comment; another noted, “You have literally made the Trans community look so stupid.”
One said: “I’m a conservative and have no problem with how you want to live your life, just do it with class and stop the tasteless [expletive].”
And there was the commentator who suggested the following: “Which leads me to my core question. Are you a plant for the right?? Were you paid off to do this to tank the Biden admin for the GOP? Because you have embarrassed and made a mockery of … every liberal and of Biden for showing support of your community. This was too [expletive] far!!!!”
