The woman who took Republican presidential candidate hopeful Ben Carson to task over his stance on gays and lesbians has opened up about the experience.
Rose Uscianowski, a 26-year-old medical consultant from Graniteville, New York, told The Staten Island Advance that she wanted to let Carson know that she "was born gay and that being gay is not a choice, it's natural."
"I wanted to make it personal by putting a face to the issue," Uscianowski, who is also a volunteer at the Staten Island Pride Center in Tompkinsville, New York, said in the interview. "I think it's dangerous if you say that being gay is a choice. It creates this idea that being gay is abnormal, and that's what I disagree with."
Uscianowski, who identifies as bisexual, has been the subject of countless media reports since she confronted the Republican candidate after a town hall meeting on Jan. 4, at the Hilton Garden Hotel Inn in Bloomfield, New York. The interaction, which was captured on camera by ABC News, showed Uscianowski, who was wearing a Pride Center T-shirt, asking Carson, "Do you think I chose to be gay?"
Watch the confrontation below, then scroll down to keep reading.
After Carson dismissed her question simply as a "long conversation," Uscianowski fired back and said, "I think you're full of sh*t!"
The question appeared to be a nod to a 2015 CNN interview in which Carson argued that people choose to be gay. The candidate, who later apologized for the remark, has made other inflammatory comments about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community since then. In November, he said that transgender people should have separate bathrooms, and in a CNN interview this week, he claimed he would consider banning gay and lesbian people from openly serving in the U.S. military, once again, if elected president.
While she insisted the confrontation was not a ploy for publicity, Uscianowski said she was grateful for the national conversation it has inspired.
"If I can bring the issue of gay rights to the GOP debates, that's great," she said.
Ben Carson Through The Years
(01 of09)
Open Image ModalCivil Rights activist Rosa Parks, Ben Carson, Ralph Abernathy and Levy Watkins at Johns Hopkins University during a celebration of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr, Baltimore, Maryland, 1980. (Photo by Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images) (credit:Afro Newspaper/Gado via Getty Images)
(02 of09)
Open Image ModalSINGAPORE - JULY 6: In this handout photo from Raffles Hospital, Dr. Keith Goh (left) adjusts the frame on conjoined twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani as Dr. Ben Carson observes the start of neurosurgery proceedings at the Raffles Hospital July 6, 2003 in Singapore. Doctors reported positive early progress in the operation to separate the 29 year old twins, who are joined at the head. (Photo by Raffles Hopsital/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images via Getty Images)
(03 of09)
Open Image ModalPALM BEACH GARDENS, FL - NOVEMBER 06: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks to the media before speaking at a gala for the Black Republican Caucus of South Florida at PGA National Resort on November 6, 2015 in Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Carson has come under media scrutiny for possibly exaggerating his background and other statements he has made recently. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (credit:Joe Raedle via Getty Images)
(04 of09)
Open Image ModalUS neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson addresses a press conference at the Indraprashtra Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, 04 October 2005. Carson is ready to separate ten-year-old Indian twins Sabah and Farah joined at the head as soon as their parents give permission, an Indian hospital official said. Carson and a team of 20 specialists approved the procedure after studying an angiogram of the brains of the twins at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in the Indian capital, said medical director Anupam Sibal. But the final decision rests with the parents of the twins, who were to return to Patna, capital of the impoverished eastern Indian state of Bihar, to consult with friends and family, Sibal told a media conference at the hospital. (credit:RAVEENDRAN via Getty Images)
(05 of09)
Open Image ModalDr. Ben Carson is interviewed during a live streaming Web-A-Thon with Wake Up America September 5, 2014 at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who would run in the 2016 Presidential campaign as a conservative for the Tea Party. (credit:Laura Segall via Getty Images)
(06 of09)
Open Image ModalBen Carson, possible 2016 presidential candidate, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. The 42nd annual CPAC, which runs until Feb. 28, features most of the potential Republican candidates for president, from Carson and Carly Fiorina to Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(07 of09)
Open Image ModalDr. Ben Carson (C) chats with guests after a live streaming Web-A-Thon with Wake Up America September 5, 2014 at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who would run in the 2016 Presidential campaign as a conservative for the Tea Party. (credit:Laura Segall via Getty Images)
(08 of09)
Open Image ModalJohns Hopkins Children's Center Neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson (C) holds a model of the conjoined twins Lea and Tabea Block during a press conference, 16 September, 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland. Surgeons completed the separation of the twins from Lemgo, Germany, who had been joined at the head, but Tabea died of major complications associated with the surgery. (credit:MIKE THEILER via Getty Images)
(09 of09)
Open Image ModalU.S. President George W. Bush (R) presents a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. M.D (L), for his work withneurological disorders during an East Room ceremony June 19, 2008 at the White House in Washington, DC. The medal is the nation's highest civilian award. (credit:Alex Wong via Getty Images)
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