The latest marketing campaign from Calvin Klein features a pregnant transgender man as an underwear model, with the fashion brand saying it wanted to spotlight the “realities of new families” in honor of — ironically — Mother’s Day.
The campaign includes shirtless photos of Roberto Bete, a female-to-male transgender reality TV star from Brazil who was pregnant at the time of the shoot. The photos show Bete posing with exposed stomach and top-surgery scars alongside spouse Erika Fernandes, a tattoo artist.
“We can reproduce biologically or from the heart… our place is to love and be loved,” an unattributed quote reads in the campaign.
We have a huge baby formula shortage! The Left says men are the root of all problems, so it’s only fair to blame pregnant men right? I wonder what Calvin Klein has to say about this. #calvinklein pic.twitter.com/cReKkxxikt
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) May 12, 2022
Bete appeared in the Netflix reality dating series O Crush Perfeito (The Perfect Crush).
Calvin Klein launched the campaign on Sunday, which was Mother’s Day in the U.S. The campaign also features non-transgender models from various countries, and their children.
This isn’t the first time Calvin Klein has featured a transgender model in its underwear ads. The brand featured male-to-female transgender activist Jari Jones in a 2020 Gay Pride campaign in which Jones wore a sports bra.
“Today… a Fat Black Trans Woman Looks over New York!!!” Jones tweeted to celebrate the campaign.
Today, on #JUNETEENTH2020 a Fat Black Trans Woman Looks over NEW YORK !!! 😭😭😭😭 #BlackTransLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatter #ProudinMyCalvins @CalvinKlein pic.twitter.com/Kvth3oCXw4
— Jari Jones (@IAmJariJones) June 19, 2020
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