A well-known human rights attorney and activist has reportedly been posing as a Latina for over a decade- and the truth has finally come out.
Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan was outed by the non-profit news outlet Prism, who pointed out that she serves as a senior counsel member for the Latino Justice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Bannan also was the heralded as the first Latina president of the National Lawyers Guild 2015.
Upon further review, Prism’s researchers revealed that Bannan is of Irish, Russian and Italian heritage. She recently claimed to be Puerto Rican and from New York – although records indicate she’s from Georgia, according to the publication.
According to the New York Post, the 43-year-old dug her heels in when confronted, claiming she chose her cultural identity.
“I am racially white, and have always said that. However my cultural identity was formed as a result of my family, both chosen and chosen for me, and that has always been Latinx,” she responded, using a gender-neutral term often derided and mocked by the Latino community. “My identity is my most authentic expression of who I am and how I pay honor to the people who have formed me since I was a child.”
Bannan went on to state that she was raised in a split household, which opened her up to more influence from other families.
“My biological parents were born in the United States, and I was raised with only one of them,” she noted. “Yet the Colombian family who I grew up with and who were responsible in grand part for raising me, who helped form my character and identity were from many different ethnic identities and backgrounds.”
It is unknown if the revelation will effect her standing with the the Latino Justice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.
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