Rose Montoya, a transgender woman and activist went topless and exposed her breast in a video during a pride event, celebrating the LGBTQIA flag day at the Whitehouse, hosted by President Joe Biden.
Rose Montoya shook hands with President Joe Biden during the event to celebrate Pride Month and Flag Day before she was seen with others topless at the South Lawn of the White House.
Biden hosted hundreds of guests to a picnic on the South Lawn. It was part of a celebration of Pride Month and the administration’s support for the LGBTQ+ community as waves of anti-LGBTQ+ bills clamp down on the movement.
Among the attendees was Montoya, a transgender rights activist who became popular in 2021 for her content about trans issues on social media. On Monday, Montoya posted a video to her Instagram and TikTok accounts, recapping the White House picnic.
The White House criticized her behavior, and in a statement said it was “inappropriate and disrespectful for any event at the White House.”
A Whitehouse spokesman in a statement said that her actions were “not reflective of the event we hosted to celebrate LGBTQI+ families or the other hundreds of guests who were in attendance” and that “individuals in the video will not be invited to future events.”
She was subsequently banned from the White House. However, her move earned her many new followers on social media.
According to Social Blade, Rose Montoya’s social media has gained 1,100 followers since Saturday, bringing her count up to 793,900 as of Wednesday. The previous week had seen her follower count go up by a relatively modest 100 over seven days.
Montoya defended her actions in the White House, arguing that going topless in Washington, D.C., is legal and accusing conservatives of using the video to try to advance their agenda.
“It has recently come to my attention that conservatives are trying to use the video of me topless at the White House to try to call the community groomers, etc.,” Montoya said in a video posted to TikTok.”
“And I would just like to say that, first of all, going topless in Washington, D.C., is legal and I fully support the movement of freeing the nipple because why is my chest deemed inappropriate or illegal when I show it off. However, before coming out as trans, it was not.
“My transmasculine friends are showing off their top surgery scars and living in joy, and I wanted to join them,” Montoya added. “And because it is perfectly within the law in Washington, D.C., I decided to join them and cover my nipples just to play it safe.”
Washington D.C. law does not explicitly say that people are not allowed to go topless. However, it does state that “it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to make any obscene or indecent exposure of his or her person, or to make any lewd, obscene, or indecent sexual proposal, or to commit any other lewd, obscene, or indecent act in the District of Columbia.”