Rosalynne "Rose" Montoya (born October 10, 1995), is an American transgender activist, public speaker, and content creator known for her advocacy on LGBTQ+ rights, gender inclusion, and trans visibility. She gained prominence through educational videos and personal storytelling on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where she shares insights about trans identity, body autonomy, and intersectional equity. Montoya has also modeled in campaigns that challenge conventional beauty standards, including Chromat’s final collection, ''Collective Opulence Celebrating Kindred''—a collaboration with artist and filmmaker Tourmaline featured in ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

''—where she posed untucked as a statement on body autonomy and gender expression, further cementing her role at the intersection of fashion and social change.

Early life and education

Montoya was born on October 10, 1995. She grew up in rural southern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

in a family with four siblings. She learned

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

as a child due to her mother working as a sign language interpreter. Montoya's family later adopted her youngest sister from China, who is Deaf. Her father worked as a worship pastor at their church and her mother worked as a Christian missionary. Montoya realized she was attracted to men in Middle School and was outed in 2010 while in high school. She then began performing in drag shows in college, which led to her coming out as a transgender woman in 2015. She started transitioning on June 23, 2015, and changed her legal name in September 2015. In 2016, she came out as bisexual and, in 2019, as a

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

transgender woman using both feminine and non-binary gender pronouns. Montoya graduated in 2015 from

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

with a bachelor of arts degree in film studies at 19 years old.

Career

Makeup

Montoya worked as a full-time

makeup artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

and manager at a department store's cosmetics counter until she was laid off during the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

. During this time, she focused on turning her social media platforms into a full-time job.

Social Media

Montoya uses her social media to create educational content regarding transgender issues, experiences, and rights. She has made sponsored posts with

FX Networks FX Networks, LLC, commonly known as FX Networks, is an American media company built around FX, FXX, and FX Movie Channel, plus their associated production company, FX Productions, and is a subsidiary of Disney General Entertainment Content, ...

, New York City Pride,

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

Fenty Beauty Fenty Beauty LLC (stylized as FEИTY BEAUTY) is a cosmetics brand by Rihanna, that was launched on September 8, 2017. Popular for its broad inclusivity across various skin tones, its Pro Filt'R foundation became in high-demand upon its first rel ...

, ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'', and Fluide. In 2022, Montoya was nominated for Favorite

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

er at the 10th annual ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay- and LGBTQ-oriented entertainment and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was ...

'' Awards. In 2024, she was nominated by the Los Angeles Blade's Reader Choice Awards for Best Local Influencer. In 2025, she won Best Local Influencer and Local Activist.

Viral TSA video

In March 2021, Montoya had a difficult experience with the

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

at an airport in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. A

video about it received over twenty million views. Montoya said her documentation recognizes her as female, but airport scanners, which categorize travelers as male or female due to genitalia, set off alarms. After disclosing to the TSA attendant that she is transgender, the agent asked if Montoya would prefer to be "scanned as a man instead." Montoya stated that then, after triggering the alarm again, the TSA tried to assign a male agent to pat her down despite her being a trans woman. This viral moment led to a phone call where Montoya consulted for the

US Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions involv ...

(DHS).

Motivational Speaking & Advocacy

Montoya has spoken and presented on transgender rights at the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Trans Wellness Conference, the Downtown Emergency Service Center, the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. She launched the educational website
The Trans 101
' to spread awareness regarding issues faced by transgender people. Montoya is also a board member of the non-profit, Aadya Rising. She was one of the activists featured in ''

Out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

s ''18 LGBTQ+ Policy Makers and Advocates Changing the World''. In June 2023, Rose also spoke at the

National Press Club A press club is an organization for journalists and others who are professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press Club ...

to advocate for policy change in support of transgender rights. In November 2023, Rose published an op-ed in

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

about the over-sexualization of trans bodies and the desire-to-cruelty-pipeline. In May 2024, Rose spoke on a panel at the Hollywood and Mind Summit, where she advocated for hiring trans people and the importance of taking care of mental health while being a public figure. In 2025, Rose was also invited by Representatives

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...

and

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

to attend the ''Fight Oligarchy'' rally in Los Angeles, where she created a collaborative video with both lawmakers and interviewed Representative

Pramila Jayapal Pramila Jayapal (born September 21, 1965) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents most of Seattle, as well as some suburban areas of King County. Jayapal ...

about federal protections for transgender people. In February of 2025, Rose spoke at a rally in front of Children's Hospital LA after they made the decision to stop providing gender-affirming care to patients 19 years old and younge

In June of 2025, Rose the Best Local Activist Award from the

Los Angeles Blade The ''Los Angeles Blade'' is an LGBT+ newspaper launched in 2017 as an offshoot of the ''Washington Blade''. The newspaper covers news, politics, opinion, arts and entertainment in the Los Angeles area, and includes some national and internat ...

Readers' Choice Awards. Rose gave a keynote speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s rally for the National Trans Visibility March, held during World Pride in D.C. 2025. That June, she also interviewed Representatives

Becca Balint Rebecca A. Balint ( ; born May 4, 1968) is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. ...

and

Ro Khanna Rohit Khanna (born September 13, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (Un ...

on issues related to Medicaid access, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the intersection of trans rights with broader policy concerns. Following the ICE raids in Los Angeles in June 2025, Rose publicly protested the actions and released multiple videos expressing support for immigrant communities.

Modeling

Montoya began modeling in 2018, after she was discovered by the

undergarment Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled ...

company TomboyX. She has modeled in advertisement campaigns for

Savage X Fenty Savage X Fenty is a lingerie brand founded by Barbadian singer Rihanna. Along with lingerie, the line features bras, underwear, sleepwear, and loungewear. The brand features an optional membership program called Xtra VIP. History Savage X ...

, Yandy.com,

Adore Me Adore Me is a direct-to-consumer women's intimate apparel brand based in New York City. The company was started by Morgan Hermand-Waiche in 2010 while he was an MBA student at Harvard Business School and is a Certified B Corporation. History Ador ...

, Toms Shoes, and oVertone. In June 2021, Rose was featured on a billboard in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as one of the faces of LGBT telehealth group Folx Health's launch campaign for

PreP PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture. Published by IBM in 1994, it allow ...

. In 2023, Rose was on the Cover of Go Magazine's Pride Issue "100 Women We Love." In 2025, Montoya modeled in Chromat’s final collection, ''Collective Opulence Celebrating Kindred''—a collaboration with artist and filmmaker

Tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral, silicate mineral group in which boron is chemical compound, compounded with chemical element, elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. This gemstone comes in a ...

featured in ''

''—where she posed untucked as a statement on body autonomy and gender expression, further cementing her role at the intersection of fashion and social change.

Personal life

Montoya has spoken publicly about gender-affirming surgeries she underwent, including a

breast augmentation In medicine, breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty are terms that describe a cosmetic surgery procedure that uses either a Breast implant, breast implant or a fat-graft to realise a mammoplasty to increase the size, change the shape ...

, a

tracheal shave Chondrolaryngoplasty (commonly called tracheal shave, but this is a misnomer as the trachea is not involved) is a surgical procedure in which the thyroid cartilage is reduced in size by shaving down the cartilage through an incision in the throat ...

, a

genioplasty Chin augmentation using surgical implants alter the underlying structure of the face, intended to balance the facial features. The specific medical terms mentoplasty and genioplasty are used to refer to the reduction and addition of material to a ...

, a BBL, and facial feminization surgery (FFS). She has also opened up about her experiences living with chronic anxiety and depression. Montoya is

polyamorous Polyamory () is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. Some people who identify as polyamorous believe in consensual non-mono ...

and frequently uses her platforms to educate people about different relationship structures. Montoya used to be

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher Delmar Caldwell (born June 22, 1986), also known by his stage name Caldwell Tidicue and better known by his drag name Bob the Drag Queen, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, author, and reality television ...

's metamour and joined him for a podcast episode.

White House Pride controversy

In June 2023, Montoya attended a

Pride month Pride Month, sometimes specified as LGBTQ Pride Month, is a List of month-long observances, month-long observance dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ pride, commemorating the contributions of lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender a ...

celebration at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

where she was among the hundreds greeted by

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. She elicited controversy due to a

video she shared with her nearly 800K followers. After a full day, the TikTok video was then shared by

Libs of TikTok Libs of TikTok is a handle for various far-right and anti-LGBT social-media accounts operated by Chaya Raichik ( ), a former real estate agent. Raichik uses the accounts to repost content created by left-wing and LGBT people on TikTok or othe ...

which caused the video to go viral on far-right

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and was then picked up by conservative media.

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

wrote three articles about the incident in one day. The video included 3 seconds in which she and two other attendees removed their clothing above the waist. Rose covered her nipples the entire time. The White House called the act "disrespectful" and said that the individuals in the video "would not be invited back to future events." Rose has since issued an apology video. While in DC, Rose also spoke at the

to advocate for policy change in support of transgender rights.

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards, nominations, and honors

*2021 -

Out Magazine ''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. ''Out'' was owned by Robert Hardman of Boston, its original investor, until 2 ...

's Out 100 Honoree honoring the magazine's selection of ''18 LGBTQ+ Policy Makers and Advocates Changing the World'' in 2021 * 2021 - One of 18

Latinx ''Latinx'' is an English neologism used to refer to people with Latin American cultural or ethnic identity in the United States. The term aims to be a gender-neutral alternative to ''Latino'' and ''Latina'' by replacing the masculine and fem ...

Creatives to Follow from Arizona Republic

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montoya, Rose Living people Activists from Idaho Bisexual women entertainers Non-binary bisexual people Bisexual women models Female models from Idaho Hispanic and Latino American activists Hispanic and Latino American female models LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people LGBTQ people from Idaho American LGBTQ rights activists American LGBTQ models American bisexual women American transgender women American non-binary people LGBTQ TikTokers Non-binary activists Non-binary models Seattle University alumni Transgender female models Transgender non-binary people Transgender rights activists Polyamorous people 1995 births Transgender history in the United States Transgender bisexual women