Munroe Bergdorf

Munroe Bergdorf (' Beaumont'''; born 11 September 1987) is an English model and activist.

She has walked several catwalks for brands including Gypsy Sport at both London and NYC Fashion Weeks.

Bergdorf was the first transgender model in the UK for L'Oréal, but was dropped within weeks after a racial row.

In 2014, the London Evening Standard referred to her as "a cornerstone of London's trans scene."

She told the newspaper that she was "so vocal" on trans issues because she sees it as "the new frontier", an issue being brought into public consciousness through the work of trans women like Laverne Cox and Carmen Carrera.

She came to public attention in August 2017 when she was employed as the first transgender model to front a L'Oréal campaign in the UK, being announced as one of 27 models taking part in L'Oréal UK's "True Match" campaign.

On her social media, she stated: "Thank you L’Oréal Paris for giving me this platform. I hope it reaches another little eight-year-old trans girl and makes her feel a little more hopeful and a little less scared about her future, than what was installed [sic] in me when I was her age."

Elsewhere she stated: "I definitely set out to empower girls like me."

In February 2017, Bergdorf stated that "all white people as a group are brought up racist", stating: "most of y’all don’t even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour."

Bergdorf attracted further public attention following an article in The Daily Mail highlighting Facebook comments that she had made, which included the claim that all white people were guilty of "racial violence" 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 her from their campaign on 1 September 2017.

They issued a statement that the company "supports diversity and tolerance towards all people irrespective of their race, background, gender and religion" and that Bergdorf's comments about white people were "at odds with those values".

Facebook removed her posts from their website, regarding them as being in contravention to its rules against hate speech.

Bergdorf said that she also faced online harassment, much of it of a racist and transphobic nature.

Other commentators argued that The Daily Mail had quoted her out of context, and that her wider point about white supremacy and white privilege in Western societies was valid and needed wider dissemination.

Bergdorf defended her position, arguing that she was angry after the scenes at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and wanted to explain that racism was systemic, and that being racist was not just about attacking people, but failing to take action against the system.

She added: "I don't see how calling out the roots of racism, somehow makes you a racist", calling the controversy the "worst time of my life".

In September 2017, the UK-based Illamasqua hired Bergdorf as the face of its Beauty Spotlight campaign, which concerned gender fluidity.

In a statement, the company described Bergdorf as embodying "diversity and individuality; she is not scared to be truly herself."

It added that it did not "stand or accept any form of racism, but we also believe Munroe’s comments have been edited out of context by a certain media title (who we won't bother naming) without telling a true story".

In February 2018, she was appointed as an LGBT adviser to the Labour Party, but resigned the following month.

Bergdorf appeared in the Channel 4 documentary What Makes a Woman, which aired in May 2018.

Bergdorf won ‘Changemaker of the Year’ at the 2018 Cosmopolitan Awards, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2019 by the University of Brighton.

In February 2018, she was appointed as an LGBT adviser to the Labour Party, which she resigned from the following month after homophobic and misogynistic Twitter posts from 2010 received attention.

Bergdorf apologised for her past comments.

She joined UN Women UK as an advocate in 2019, supporting its #DrawALine campaign, aiming to put a stop to female genital mutilation (FGM).

Bergdorf was born and grew up in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex.

Bergdorf is of mixed ancestry, born to a Jamaican father and an English mother.

Bergdorf, who was assigned male at birth, attended Bentfield County Primary School in Stansted Mountfitchet and then The Bishop's Stortford High School, an all-boys' school.

Bergdorf describes growing up as a "very effeminate boy".

Later, she studied English at the University of Brighton, describing herself there as genderqueer.

Bergdorf then worked for three years in fashion PR.

At the age of 24, Bergdorf began gender transitioning, and was the subject of an episode of London Live show Drag Queens of London.

Around the same time that Bergdorf was transitioning, she co-founded nightclub Pussy Palace.

Bergdorf became involved in modelling after being motivated by the lack of diversity in the industry.

Her first modelling job was for a Lebanese couture company.

In June 2020, during the international George Floyd protests, Bergdorf criticized L'Oréal Paris for posting on Instagram that they stood in solidarity with the Black community, saying that she had never received an apology from L'Oréal.

In response, the company announced that they would create and appoint Bergdorf to a U.K. Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board.

Bergdorf shared on Instagram a number of abusive messages she received on that platform following her appointment.

The same month she was hired by Illamasqua, Bergdorf recited Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise" for a short film directed by Bec Evans and Laura Kirwan-Ashman.