Who is Rose Montoya? Transgender activist goes viral after baring her breasts at White House 'Pride Month' event
WASHINGTON DC, WASHINGTON: On June 10, the largest Pride celebration ever held at the White House was hosted by President Joe Biden. The president called for further legislation to ensure the safety and rights of LGBTQ+ people in the face of a wave of what he called "terrifying" assaults on the community. At the Pride celebration event, a transgender actress and model caused controversy by flashing her breasts in the White House South Lawn area.
Rose Montoya, 27, was one of several people invited to the White House for the Pride celebration, where she met the president and first lady before unhooking her dress and clutching her bare breasts on the South Lawn. The person filming the video asks, "Are we topless at the White House?!" as Rose giggles and jiggles her breasts, as reported by Daily Mail.
Who is Rose Montoya?
According to her official biography, Rose Montoya realized she was attracted to men in the 10th grade (before transitioning). She continued to perform drag in college and revealed her gender identity as female in 2015. The year after, she came out as bisexual. She came out as non-binary in 2019 and currently uses the pronouns she, her, hers, and they/them, their, theirs.
Rose, who is Latina, identifies as nonbinary transgender and bisexual now. She is a content producer, model, actor, public speaker, and supporter of body acceptance, trans inclusivity, and mental health education. Rose, in her biography, states that as she shares her narrative, she hopes to convey love and knowledge about her community.
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Rose Montoya's life in a nutshell
Rose was raised in a tiny farming community in Idaho. She grew up with her four siblings. Rose studied at Seattle University and received a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies in June 2015. Since then, Rose has worked on the sets of films by TomboyX, Yandy, Folx Health and LA Network's The Q Agenda. Most recently, she was an extra in 'Agent of Change', starring Michael D. Cohen and Rain Valdez and directed by Jett Garrison and Shaan Dasani.
Rose, who has 103K Instagram followers, is also a nominee for the Out 100 along with Symone, Elvira, and Elliot Page and was nominated for the 'Favorite TikToker' award at the 10th Annual Queerty Awards. She has worked with several businesses and groups, including Fenty Beauty, TikTok, Instagram, Planned Parenthood, and others.
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In 2018, while still residing in Seattle, Rose began modeling after being spotted by TomboyX, a lesbian couple-owned business that specializes in gender-neutral underwear. Since then, she has participated in ads and collaborated with numerous brands, including Savage X Fenty, Adore Me, Yandy, oVertone, TOMS, and FOLX Health. On a billboard in New York City, Rose was one of the faces of the PreP launch by FOLX Health for Pride Month 2021.
Rose has spoken at the largest transgender gathering, including the Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference, The Q Agenda on the LA TV Network, Seattle Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), Estee Lauder Companies, The University of Pittsburgh, Stanford University, Yale University, and many other venues.
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Currently, Rose is on the board of Aadya Rising, a nonprofit organization that seeks to fill in the gaps for the transgender community. Rose assists with event planning, performs at fundraising events, talks on educational panels, works with sponsors, influencers, and contributors, and develops marketing and instructional content for the nonprofit's social media pages. Rose also manages the Trans 101 Resource Site for trans persons and supporters interested in learning more about the trans community.
'Trans rights are human rights'
On Monday, June 12, Rose shared an Instagram video of the Pride celebration day at the White House to her 103,000 followers. She is also shown meeting Jill Biden and attempting to take a selfie with the president. She added: "Trans rights are human rights" when speaking with President Biden. "I had the honor of attending White House Pride, the largest one in history where the pride flag flew for the first time. This is trans joy. We're here at the white house unapologetically trans, queer, and brown," Rose wrote as the caption for the video.
At one point in time, the trans model poses topless among two other individuals and jiggles her breasts up and down. Being topless in public is not illegal in Washington, DC, as Rose noted after her topless video went viral. 'Free the nipple!' she claimed in a second video she posted online. The model from Idaho, who started transitioning in 2015, records herself introducing herself to her guests.
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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden asked Congress to enact the Equality Act, which would alter the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity alongside protections for race, religion, sex, and national origin, as well as outlaw assault weapons. According to the President, survivors of the fatal shootings at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida, in 2016, and the LGBT Club Q in Colorado Springs, were also present at the White House Pride celebration 2023.
