STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- "Do you think I chose to be gay?"

Rose Uscianowski was calm when she approached Dr. Ben Carson to ask him that question following a town hall Monday in the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield.

"Did you choose to be gay?" Carson responded.

Uscianowski, 26, of Graniteville, repeated her question.

"That's a long conversation," the Republican presidential candidate said.

"I think you're full of s---," Uscianowski responded before smiling and walking away.

The exchange, which was captured by the media, has been at the center of several reports since it occurred.

But in an exclusive interview with the Advance, Uscianowski, a medical consultant who also volunteers at the Pride Center in Tompkinsville, said that she did not confront Carson for the publicity.

"The reason was to let him know that I was born gay and that being gay is not a choice; it's natural," she said.

"I wanted to make it personal by putting a face to the issue."

Uscianowski, an admitted Democrat who is into politics, said she attended the town hall to see how Carson would be perceived among borough residents. While she was there, she figured it would be "a good opportunity" to get in a few words with the candidate.

"I've heard Ben Carson say many times that he believes that being gay is a choice," she said. "It creates the framework for discriminating against the LGBTQ community."

"I think it's dangerous if you say that being gay is a choice," she added. "It creates this idea that being gay is abnormal, and that's what I disagree with."

Carson apologized last year for remarks he made saying that homosexuality is an option.

Uscianowski, who identifies herself as bisexual, said that in the moment she "felt vindicated, not nervous."

When asked about the attention the encounter has gotten, she responded, "If I can bring the issue of gay rights to the GOP debates, that's great."

"I'm glad I said it. My words were to start a conversation and that's what they did, so I'm happy," she said.