Laverne Cox

“It’s revolutionary for any trans person to choose to be seen and visible in a world that tells us we should not exist.”

These are words from Laverne Cox, an American woman who was the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2014 and to win a Daytime Emmy Award in 2015. She became a household name with Orange Is the New Black for her memorable role as Sophia Burset. Like many minorities, Cox has had to navigate being part of an oppressed group within a vibrant industry such as acting, but despite this, has been a trailblazer for the trans community, including becoming the first transgender person to play a trans series regular on U.S. television.

Laverne has quickly become a staple figure in modern popular culture and was even the first trans person to have a life-size wax figure displayed at Madame Tussauds. She has always remained a refreshing but powerful voice in the LGBTQ+ community, advocating for authenticity, self-love, visibility, and empowerment through her activism. In an increasingly hostile global landscape marked by prohibitive laws targeting trans people, Cox continues to create a sense of safety for queer people through her words and actions. In 2014, she was honored at the GLAAD Media Awards held in Los Angeles, and in 2022, to coincide with her 50th birthday, she collaborated with toy manufacturer Mattel on a transgender-inclusive Barbie, allowing transgender children to see themselves reflected positively in a staple of modern culture after years of erasure.

Beyond inspiring young LGBTQ+ individuals, Cox has been noted as an influence to many prominent public figures, such as Elliot Page, who cited her as an inspiration on his own coming out. Her impact extends across a wide range of artists, advocates, and public figures, including Rain Valdez, Hunter Schafer, TS Madison, Carmen Carrera, Alok Vaid-Menon, Chella Man, and Alexandra Grey, to name but a few. 

Before her breakthrough role, Laverne started out performing in drag and later went on to begin the process of medically transitioning in 1998, at age 26. She has always emphasised that her journey has been about aligning her inner-self with her outer appearance, and is a vocal advocate for the #TransIsBeautiful movement which celebrates the trans community’s right to live authentically and without conforming to cisnormative standards.

In a world increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ people, especially trans individuals, Cox remains a vital and affirming voice. Her visibility offers young gender-diverse people a chance to see themselves represented positively in the media. Drawing from personal experience, she has also engaged with trans-exclusionary feminists with limiting views of gender social conditioning. She has challenged their ideas of gender and rejected biological essentialism as a sole definer of humans’ existence by emphasising the diversity of lived experiences.

Laverne is not just a woman existing in a challenging world where trans people are stripped of their rights; she remains unapologetic in her identity and steadfast in her advocacy. Through her voice and presence, she continues to create a safe space for those who genuinely need it most. In a time when queer rights are still evolving and being fought for every day, Cox stands as an important figure in shaping both culture and history.

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