Trans-icon Laverne Cox will be on the cover of TIME Magazine’s Jun. 9th issue. The cover photo of the issue was released this past Thurs., May 28. Cox will make history as the first transgender to land a the cover page of TIME Magazine.
The article is entitled, “The Transgender Tipping Point: America’s next civil rights frontier”. It is written by Katy Steinmetz and provides a Q&A with Cox. On the cover, Cox stands tall in a tight, blue dress with black heels.
Laverne Cox -Time Magazine -Cover – via Time Magazine
During her interview, Cox explained that, “there’s not just one trans story. There’s not just one trans experience.” This is certainly a significant statement for the estimated 1.5 million Americans who identify themselves as transgender.
The interview got very emotional and honest. Cox recounted being beaten with drumsticks by members of the school band because she had looked feminine as a boy. She even opened up about her attempted suicide overdose, which she committed because of her guilt.
Cox discussed how her mother made her see a therapist. “Going to a therapist and the fear of God being placed in me about ending up in New Orleans wearing a dress, that was a profoundly shaming moment for me.” She revealed, “I associated it with being some sort of degenerate, with not being successful.”
Cox has made appearances on “Law and Order,” “Law & Order: SVU” and HBO’s “Bored to Death” and VH1’s “I Wanna Work for Diddy”. Nevertheless, she is most famous for her role on the Netflix, prison-drama, “Orange is the New Black”. She has used the success that her role has yielded to campaign for equal gender identity rights.
In the interview, Cox described her satisfaction with her current state in life,
“Happiness is weird though. I’m so busy and I’m living my dream. I feel like myself and I feel pretty integrated, like the person that I am inside is who the world is seeing, which feels calming. But it’s not like ‘Oooooohhh, I am woman now and the world is amazing.’ There’s hardships. There are a lot of struggles still. I’m happy that I am myself and I couldn’t imagine my life if I were still in denial or lying, pretending to be a boy. That seems ridiculous to me. That seems crazy at this point.… It’s nice to be done with transitioning.“
On Thurs., Cox tweeted the caption “Thanks @TIME for this lovely bday present, a cover story 2 highlight the profound issues trans people face everyday,” with a shot of the cover. Seeing such movement is truly an inspiration. Laverne Cox is a stunning example of how much progress an individual can make, regardless of their gender identity. TIME is evolving.
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