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Munroe BergdorfEnglish model and activist
Date of Birth: 11.09.1987
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Munroe Bergdorf: Trailblazing Model and Activist
Early LifeMunroe Bergdorf was born and raised in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England. Of mixed heritage, with a Jamaican father and English mother, Bergdorf attended Bentfield County Primary School in Stansted Mountfitchet and later Bishop's Stortford High School, a boys' school. Bergdorf describes growing up as a "very effeminate boy." They later studied English at the University of Brighton, identifying as genderqueer. Bergdorf subsequently worked in fashion PR for three years.
At the age of 24, Bergdorf began transitioning and appeared in an episode of the London drag queen show "Drag Queens of London." Around the same time, Bergdorf co-founded the nightclub Pussy Palace.
Modeling
Inspired by the lack of diversity in the industry, Bergdorf pursued modeling. Their first modeling job was for a Lebanese couture brand. In 2014, the Evening Standard newspaper called Bergdorf a "cornerstone of London's trans scene." Trans women like Laverne Cox and Carmen Carrera were beginning to bring trans representation to public consciousness.
Bergdorf gained widespread attention in August 2017 when they became the first transgender model to front a campaign for L'Oréal in the UK. Announced as one of 27 models to feature in L'Oréal UK's "True Match" campaign, Bergdorf stated on their social media: "Thank you @lorealparisofficial for giving me this platform. I hope it will reach another 8-year-old trans girl and make her feel a little more hopeful and a little less scared for her future than I was at her age." Elsewhere, they said: "My intention was definitely to empower girls like me."
Racial Controversy
Munroe Bergdorf Racial Row IncidentIn February 2017, Bergdorf stated that "all white people are inherently racist," arguing that "most of ya'll [sic] don't even realize or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of color" and that the white race was "the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth." In response to Bergdorf's comments, L'Oréal dropped them from their campaign on September 1, 2017. They released a statement saying that the company "stands for diversity and tolerance towards all people irrespective of their race, background, gender or religion" and that Bergdorf's comments about white people "are at odds with these values." Facebook also removed their posts from its website for violating its rules against hate speech.
Bergdorf stated that they also faced online harassment, primarily of a racist and transphobic nature. Other commentators argued that Bergdorf had been quoted out of context by the Daily Mail and that their broader point about white supremacy and white privilege in Western societies was valid and needed to be more widely debated. Bergdorf defended their position, arguing that they had been angered by scenes from the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville and wanted to explain that racism is systemic and that it involves not just attacking people but failing to act against the system itself. "I don't understand how addressing the root of racism makes you in any way racist," they added, calling the controversy "the worst time in my life."
In September 2017, British beauty brand Illamasqua hired Bergdorf as the face of its "Beauty Spotlight" campaign dedicated to gender fluidity. In a statement, the company described Bergdorf as the embodiment of "diversity and individuality; she is not afraid to be truly herself." Illamasqua also released a statement critical of the Daily Mail's coverage of Bergdorf's comments, saying that Bergdorf's "words had been twisted out of context by a certain media outlet (which we won't name) who failed to tell the true story."
In June 2020, amid the international protests following the murder of George Floyd, Bergdorf criticized L'Oréal Paris for posting on Instagram that they stood in solidarity with the Black community, saying that they had never received an apology from L'Oréal. In response, the company announced that they would create and appoint Bergdorf to its UK Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board. Bergdorf shared on Instagram a number of abusive messages they had received on the platform after their appointment.
Activism
In the same month that they were hired by Illamasqua, Bergdorf read Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise" for a short film created by Beck Evans and Laura Kirwan-Ashman.
In February 2018, they were appointed the Labour Party's LGBT adviser, a position they resigned from the following month after homophobic and misogynistic tweets from 2010 came to light. Bergdorf apologized for their past comments. Bergdorf later accused "right-wing media" of using them as a "political pawn to bring down Jeremy Corbyn" and stated that the Labour LGBT advisory board should be shut down, saying that "when I left, they went after someone else, then when that person left, they went after someone else" in order to "discredit Jeremy Corbyn."
As of April 2019, they were a regular guest commentator on ITV's "Good Morning Britain" and "This Morning."
In June 2019, Bergdorf was dropped as a Childline ambassador two days after being appointed when journalist Janice Turner and others questioned their suitability for the role as someone who had modeled for adult magazine Playboy. Turner also referred to Bergdorf as a "porn model." Bergdorf denied ever being involved in pornography and stated that it was wrong to demonize people who do so in any case. A few days later, the NSPCC issued "a full, frank, and unreserved apology" to Bergdorf for their handling of her dismissal. NSPCC CEO Peter Wanless explained that Bergdorf had been dismissed "because of her public statements which we felt meant that she would not have met our own safeguarding standards and could have undermined the work that we do."
In July 2019, Bergdorf was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Brighton in recognition of their campaigning for transgender rights.
In February 2021, Bergdorf deleted their Twitter account citing the abuse they received on the platform and issuing a public statement questioning when social media companies would "clamp down" on transphobia. "No one should have to put up with even a fraction of the abuse that I experience and deal with on a daily basis," Bergdorf said, concluding that they were "tired of being used as a political football. I tried to use my privilege, my platform, to make the world a safer place for trans people."
In November 2021, Bergdorf was honored with the British Trailblazer Award at GAY TIMES' fifth annual GAY TIMES Honours in London. The award was presented by Ellie Goulding, and Bergdorf also featured as one of the cover stars of GAY TIMES Magazine's Honours issue. In 2018, Cosmopolitan UK named them "Changemaker of the Year." They became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of the magazine in its 50th anniversary issue, released on January 21, 2022.
