Source: Kirstin Sinclair / Getty
These days, voicing your opinion will cost you! Model Carissa Pinkston found herself in hot water for sharing her interpretation of what it means to be a trans woman. If that wasn’t enough, when Pinkston received backlash for her thoughts, she took it as an opportunity to come out as a trans woman. Once her peers began to call her out, the fibbing model decided to come clean and let everyone know she is indeed a cisgender woman, and not a member of the trans community. Still following? If not, here’s the rundown.
In a now deleted Facebook post under the name Rissa Danielle, Pinkson wrote, “Being Transgender does NOT make you a woman. It makes you simply Transgender,” she wrote in one post. In another post, she said, “This is how they want to be perceived. In a biological context there are Females and Males. This is the world in 2019.”
Once Pinkson’s distasteful comments were brought to her modeling agency’s attention, they dropped her. When the public got wind of her comments, she took to social media with a post that for her, defended her initial statements.
I wasn’t ready to come out about it yet, but today I got fired and I’ve been receiving hate mail and death threats ever since, so I’m being forced to tell the truth. I’m Transgender. I transitioned at a very young age and I’ve lived my Life as a Female ever since. It’s been very hard to keep this secret but what I said about Trans-Women is a direct reflection of my inner insecurities and I have since come to realize that I am a Woman… WE ALL ARE!
This would have been a moment to connect with the community she offended with a genuine apology but instead, Pinkston lied, blaming the comments on her own insecurities as a trans woman. Transgender model Aaron Phillip called Pinkston out in a tweet saying, “imagine being a model who got exposed for being a raging transphobe/saying extremely transphobic shit in the past and then resorting to LYING ABOUT BEING TRANSGENDER ONLINE FOR CLOUT IN ATTEMPT TO SAVE YOUR CAREER…? i know this person irl and she is SO CISGENDER?? Y’ALL I-?”
More work colleagues called Pinkston out for her initial statements and her lies. Her former best friend, model Aleece Wilson who goes by the Instagram name OddFreckles, commented on a post saying, “clarification ; I’m not understanding how she got SRS at a very young age or when she started hormone replacements .. I don’t not believes is transgender . I’ve seen baby pictures of Carissa , I’ve seen her fully naked , I’ve been around this woman long enough to fully know her . We have many trans friends this conversation would have definitely come up.” In another post, Aleece further explained her comment after being called out as transphobic. “I have been called “transphobic” and lost a amount of 5 followers (lol) due to me calling out someone for FAKING being transgender,” she wrote.
In efforts of removing her foot from her mouth, Pinkston made another post apologizing for her remarks AND for having a faux coming-out-the-closet moment.
“I apologize for any transphobic remark I’ve ever made towards the Trans community. I panicked and I thought if I came out as Trans that I could somehow make things better for myself but it appears I’ve only made things worse. I’m truly sorry. I’m only 20 and I’m human. I make mistakes but I refuse to let them define me. I hope you all can forgive me and move on from this because I’m so much more than this incident and I’m not a coward.”
Pinkston’s comments have caused her to be released from her agency, and a shortage of friends and fans. People are calling for other brands that use her as a model like Fenty Beauty, to fire her. More and more, people are being held accountable for the things that they say. Just recently, Miss Michigan was stripped of her crown due to her racist and islamophobic remarks. As a public figure, personal opinions on race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, and gender identity can put you in the unforgiving hot seat. Either way, lying for sympathy is not the way to solve your problems.
