White House bars trans influencer who posed topless at Biden pride event: 'disrespectful'

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the 'pride' month celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on June 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people came to the White House to celebrate so-called LGBTQIAA++ pride month with a performance by singer Betty Who.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the "pride" month celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on June 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people came to the White House to celebrate so-called LGBTQIAA++ pride month with a performance by singer Betty Who. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The White House has barred a trans-identified influencer from future White House events after the individual posed topless during a pride event hosted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. 

In response to a question about the incident at the White House, Biden's Press Secretary Karine-Jean Pierre said at the daily press briefing Tuesday that the incident was disrespectful. 

“The behavior was simply unacceptable. ... It was unfair to the hundreds of attendees who were there to celebrate their families ... It’s not appropriate, it’s disrespectful,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that hundreds of families were at the event and the individuals won't be invited back. Jean-Pierre added that it was the first LGBT pride event of its kind to be hosted at the White House. 

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Video footage shared by trans activist Rose Montoya — a man who has had cosmetic surgery, including breast implants, to look more like a woman — shows him standing on the grounds of the White House at an LGBT pride event Saturday with his chest exposed. Children were present at this event.

The clip of a topless Montoya was part of a longer, one-minute video documenting the internet celebrity’s experience at the White House, which included meeting the president. 

As an off-camera voice asks, “Are we topless at the White House?” Montoya’s hands cover his nipples as the rest of his breast implants were exposed. Montoya stood by two other trans-identified individuals, one of whom had visible scars on their chest from a “top” surgery in which a woman undergoes an elective mastectomy to remove her breast tissue in an attempt to look more masculine. 

Montoya did not seem to think the video was controversial. In a caption accompanying footage from the celebration, he described the event as an example of “trans joy,” adding, “We’re here at the white house unapologetically trans, queer, and brown.”

The popular Twitter account Libs of TikTok shared Montoya’s video, accompanied by the caption, “This is what happened at the White House pride event. A disgrace to our country.”

Chaya Raichik, the woman who runs the Libs of TikTok account, exposed what was allowed to happen at Biden's event where children were present in a tweet showing a picture of Montoya topless accompanied by a screenshot of a tweet from the first lady ahead of the 2020 presidential election proclaiming that “decency is on the ballot.” 

Montoya addressed the outrage over the incident at the White House in a social media post on Monday, lamenting that “conservatives are trying to use the video of me topless at the White House to try to call the community groomers.” After insisting that “going topless in Washington, D.C., is legal,” Montoya declared: “I fully support the movement freeing the nipple.”

“Why is my chest now deemed inappropriate or illegal when I show it off?” Montoya asked. “Before coming out as trans, it was not. All you’re doing is affirming that I am a woman. All you’re doing is saying that trans women are women. Because for some reason, people like to sexualize women’s bodies.”

Montoya asserted that “my trans-masculine friends were showing off their top surgery scars and living in joy and I wanted to join them 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.” According to Montoya, “I had zero intention of trying to be vulgar or be profane in any way. I was simply living in joy, living my truth and existing in my body. Happy Pride. Free the nipple.”

A White House spokesperson released a statement condemning Montoya’s behavior as “inappropriate and disrespectful for any event at the White House,” maintaining that “It is not reflective of the event we hosted to celebrate LGBTQI+ families or the other hundreds of guests who were in attendance.” The White House vowed that “individuals in the video will not be invited to future events.” 

The video footage of Montoya topless at the White House comes as the Biden administration faces criticism for displaying an LGBT progress pride flag on White House grounds. Conservative radio host Ben Shapiro commented that “not one American soldier fought and bled for this flag.”

“Not one American taxpayer paid taxes to the government of this flag. Not one law has been passed under a government elected … under this flag. The ideological coup is complete,” he added.

In the tweet featuring video footage from Montoya’s experience at the White House, the trans-identified influencer pointed to Saturday’s event as “the largest [pride event] in history where the pride flag flew the first time.” The video features a snapshot of the LGBT progress pride flag hanging in between two American flags displayed at the south entrance to the White House. 

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

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