Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox at the Citi/AAdvantage MasterCard Priceless Access Performance in 2014.

### Notable works

* Orange is the New Black (2013 webseries)
* The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (2016 movie)
* Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word (2015 documentary)

### Website

https://lavernecox.com/

**Laverne Cox** is an American actress and activist for LGBT rights. She is most known for, and gained celebrity status with, her role as Sophia Bursett in the Netflix adaptation of *Orange is the New Black.* She is seen as a trailblazer for transgender visibility and rights, often the first in transgender visibility for a number of positions in media and pop culture.

## Career

In 2010, she produced and starred in *TRANSform Me* with Jamie Clayton and Nina Poon, becoming the first black trans woman to do so.

In 2014, Cox and Carmen Carrera were interviewed by Katie Couric, who referred to transgender people as 'transgenders', on her show *Katie*. Couric had asked Carrera about genital reassignment surgery; after being rebuffed, Couric then turned the question over to Cox, who stated "I do feel there is a preoccupation with that. The preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people. And then we don't get to really deal with the real lived experiences. The reality of trans people's lives is that so often we are targets of violence. We experience discrimination disproportionately to the rest of the community. Our unemployment rate is twice the national average; if you are a trans person of color, that rate is four times the national average. The homicide rate is highest among trans women. If we focus on transition, we don't actually get to talk about those things." News outlets criticized Couric's behavior, calling it 'invasive' and 'clueless'.

That same year, she became the first openly transgender person on the cover of *Time* magazine; she also appeared on the fifth anniversary cover of transgender fashion magazine *Candy*, alongside Gisele Alicea, Leyna Bloom, Carmen Carrera, Pêche Di, Juliana Huxtable, Isis King, Niki M'nray, Dina Marie, Janet Mock, Yasmine Petty, Nina Poon, Geena Rocero, and Carmen Xtravaganza. Cox was also exectutive producer and host for the documentary *Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,* which featured Kye Allums; for this, she became first openly transgender woman to receive an Emmy as Executive Producer. She was voted *Glamour* Woman of the Year due to her advocacy.

In 2015, she became first openly transgender wax museum figure in Madam Tussaud's and the first openly transgender person on the cover of *Cosmopolitan* magazine.

In 2016, she spoke on LOGO's *Trailblazer Honors* on Honorees Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson.

## Personal Life

Cox was born May 29, 1972 in Mobile, Alabama, raised by her single mother and grandmother in the AME Zion church community. She has an fraternal twin brother, composer, musician, and performer M. Lamar, who portrayed a pre-transition Sophia in *Orange is the New Black*.

She has been open about her childhood and dealing with gender dysphoria. As a child, she was bullied for perceived homosexuality; at one point, her third grade teacher told her mother that she was going to "end up in New Orleans wearing a dress". She attempted suicide in the sixth grade.

### Social Media

* Facebook
* Instagram
* Tumblr
* Twitter
* YouTube

## Sources

1. ↑ http://www.vh1.com/shows/transform\_me/series.jhtml
2. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laverne-cox
3. ↑ http://www.salon.com/2014/01/07/laverne\_cox\_artfully\_shuts\_down\_katie\_courics\_invasive\_questions\_about\_transgender\_people/
4. ↑ http://www.salon.com/2014/02/06/laverne\_cox\_i\_could\_easily\_be\_a\_trans\_woman\_who\_was\_fighting\_for\_her\_life/
5. ↑ http://www.salon.com/2014/01/07/laverne\_cox\_artfully\_shuts\_down\_katie\_courics\_invasive\_questions\_about\_transgender\_people/
6. ↑ http://time.com/132769/transgender-orange-is-the-new-black-laverne-cox-interview/
7. ↑ http://time.com/2973497/laverne-cox-emmy/
8. ↑ http://www.newnownext.com/laverne-cox-carmen-carrera-on-candy-magazine-cover/12/2014/
9. ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/1967496/t-word-whats-your-t/
10. ↑ https://www.glaad.org/blog/laverne-cox-makes-history-daytime-creative-arts-emmy-win
11. ↑ https://www.glamour.com/story/laverne-cox
12. ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-cox-idUSKBN0OQ1U420150610
13. ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/laverne-cox-cosmopolitan-magazine\_us\_5a660054e4b0e5630071cc41
14. ↑ http://www.vh1.com/video-clips/d0kde2/trailblazer-honors-trailblazer-honors-laverne-cox-on-the-trans-struggle
15. ↑ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/durham-news/article36601533.html
16. ↑ https://www.alternativeradio.org/collections/spk\_laverne-cox/products/coxl001
17. ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/orange-is-the-new-black-laverne-cox\_n\_3660712.html
18. ↑ http://time.com/132769/transgender-orange-is-the-new-black-laverne-cox-interview/
19. ↑ https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/08/orange-is-the-new-black-star-laverne-coxs-one-wish-for-america/