A transgender activist who went topless at the White House after meeting Joe Biden at a Pride parade claims she was ‘slut-shamed’ and ‘received death threats daily.’
Rose Montoya, 27, unhooked the top of her dress and grabbed her chest on the South Lawn as someone shouted, ‘are we topless at the White House?’ in June. She was one of thousands invited to a Pride Month concert on the South Lawn.
In a new opinion piece, Montoya claims the US has a problem with oversexualizing the female body – including when women want to ‘bear their breasts’ in public – like she did at the presidential helm in Washington DC.
Montoya – who started her transition in 2015 – made clear that she thinks criticizing people for showing off their chests during ‘moments of joy and pride’ or ‘in protest’ is wrong and is sexist.
She called for the end of the over-sexualization trans women, after adult site PornHub reported a 75 percent increase in searches for trans explicit content.
Writing on social media, Montoya said: ‘Everything I posted in June was met with over-sexualized comments, transphobic rhetoric, and hateful vitriol.’
Rose Montoya, 27, claims the US has a problem with oversexualizing the female body – including when women want to ‘bear their breasts’ in public – like she did at the White House
The 27-year-old unhooked the top of her dress and grabbed her chest on the South Lawn as someone shouted, ‘are we topless at the White House ?’ in June
She added: ‘I found it paradoxical how the same people could slut-shame me for being a woman, while simultaneously calling me a “man”.’
In a letter published by TIME, Montoya wrote: ‘In a society where only about four in 10 Americans personally know someone who is transgender, most people are left with only depictions of us, with millions of those being pornographic.
‘This is paired with a political system where our healthcare and our right to exist often gets weaponized for votes. As a result, trans people are too often limited to being seen as sex objects—rather than people worthy of dating, falling in love, marrying, or creating families.
‘Oftentimes, cisgender males are afraid that their interest in trans women calls their manhood and sexuality into question. In other words, they fear that being attracted to us “makes them gay” and to be gay, in their worldview, is to not be a “real” man.
‘In my personal life, ex-partners have sold and leaked my private photos without my consent to other men shortly after I broke up with them or when they feared the relationship ending.
‘Cisgender and transgender alike, men I trusted and who I thought loved and respected me, chose to violate my privacy and my body for profit.’
Montoya is seen with Joe Biden, and declaring: ‘Trans rights are human rights’
Montoya will not be invited to future White House events, said the press secretary
The Idaho-born model, who began transitioning in 2015, often films herself online in her ‘Trans 101’ segment, explaining things like how to be an ally.
Montoya has been open about her September 2020 breast augmentation, November 2020 trachea shave – to remove an Adam’s Apple, and March 2021 genioplasty, which makes the chin more feminine. Montoya has not undergone bottom surgery.
She said about bearing breasts in public: ‘While it’s no secret that the U.S. has a historic problem with oversexualizing the feminine body…
‘The public shaming of celebrities and athletes who embrace moments of joy and pride by bearing their breasts, to the demonization of feminist activists who have removed their tops and bras in protest…
‘Sexism has always been most amplified among those with intersecting marginalized identities. As a result, the over-sexualization of trans women is that much harder to grapple with and undo.
‘People have shamed me for having a large chest and curves and celebrating my bodily experience of womanhood, while simultaneously alleged I’m a “man lying about being a woman.”‘
‘We must put an end to the over-sexualization trans women.’
At the time of her stripping down in June, White House spokesperson said in a statement to DailyMail.com: ‘This behavior is inappropriate and disrespectful for any event at the White House.
‘It is not reflective of the event we hosted to celebrate LGBTQI+ families or the other hundreds of guests who were in attendance. Individuals in the video will not be invited to future events.’