The woman who confronted Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson and asked, "do you think I chose to be gay?" has stepped forward. Rose Uscianowski explained to the Staten Island Advance Wednesday why she decided to have words with the neurosurgeon and tell him off.
Uscianowski, 26, a medical consultant who is bisexual, told the newspaper she did not confront Carson for the publicity.
"The reason was to let him know that I was born gay and that being gay is not a choice; it's natural," she said. "I wanted to make it personal by putting a face to the issue."
When she asked Carson if he thought she chose to be gay, he responded, "That's a long conversation," to which she retorted, "I think you are full of shit."
She told the paper that the idea that sexuality is personally determined can be damaging. "I think it's dangerous if you say that being gay is a choice," said Uscianowski. "It creates this idea that being gay is abnormal, and that's what I disagree with."
Uscianowski, a Democrat, told the Advance that she attended the town hall to see how Carson would be perceived in the one New York City borough where Republicans are predominant politically, even though they are outnumbered. Then, she figured it would be "a good opportunity" to get in a few words with the candidate.
"I've heard Ben Carson say many times that he believes that being gay is a choice," she told the paper. "It creates the framework for discriminating against the LGBTQ community."
In a Facebook post last March clarifying his remarks claiming prison can make someone gay, Carson attempted to rescind his statement that sexual orientation was "absolutely" a choice, but in that same "apology" he also insisted no studies disproved that theory.
When she confronted Carson this week, Uscianowski told the Advance she "felt vindicated, not nervous."
"If I can bring the issue of gay rights to the GOP debates, that's great," she said.
Watch Rose Uscianowski's exclusive interview with the Staten Island Advance below, and scroll down to watch the confrontation, from ABCNews.com
@realBenCarson confronted at Staten Island town hall: "Do you think I chose to be gay?" https://t.co/gL3N7TXpO1
