Top 10 Interesting Facts about Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox. Photo by Greg Hernandez-Wikimedia

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Laverne Cox

This fierce queen is an actress and LGBTQ activist. She is also one of the most famous Trans today. She uses her status in society to advocate for LGBTQ rights and urges us to move beyond gender expectations to live more authentically. Cox started with small acting gigs here and there till she got her big breakthrough in 2012 when she was cast on the Netflix television drama Orange Is the New Black. She played the role of Sophia Burset, an imprisoned trans woman trying to acquire hormone treatments. This part got her nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2014, 2017, and 2019. The show ended in 2019 and she went on to take on parts in both films and television. She worked on other notable films like Charlie’s Angels (2019), Promising Young Woman (2020), and Jolt (2021).

As an LGBTQ activist, she has produced several television series and documentaries on issues transgender. These include Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word (2014), Free CeCe! (2016), and Disclosure (2020). In 2015, The T Word won a Daytime Emmy in the outstanding special class special category, and as the executive producer of the TV documentary movie, she received an Emmy.

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1. She attempted suicide at 11

Image by Hasty Words from Pixabay

Cox has led a tough life. She was often bullied and abused by kids in her school. Immediately she stepped out of the school bus, kids would chase her and taunt her every day. She was mentally troubled and did not have anyone to talk to. She had been raised in the church and had been taught that being gay was a sin. She was ashamed of who she was and thought she was letting down her dead grandmother. One day she went to the medicine cabinet, got a bottle of pills, and gulped them. She then went to sleep, hoping not to wake up. However, she woke up with a severe stomach ache. She thought the pills would kill her but they did not.

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2. Cox is a twin

Photo by Tim Bish on Unsplash

She has an identical twin by the name of M. Lamar who has been mistaken for Cox in the past. He is a pianist, performer, artist, and musical composer. Fascinatingly, Lamar, though not an actor, appeared in an episode of Orange is the New Black, in a flashback as the pre-transition version of Laverne’s character. After hair and makeup tests, they decided Cox did not appear masculine enough and opted instead to cast her twin brother for the role. The two siblings have always been very close, not uncommon with twins but this experience made them even closer.

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3. She is a woman of many ‘firsts’

Cox has had several firsts in her career. She is a go-getter and it did not matter that she did not have many people to look up to growing up. She forged her path to becoming the icon she is now. She is the first transgender performer nominated for an Emmy in an acting category, the first transgender actress with a series regular role on a broadcast network for her work on CBS’ Doubt, the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure at Madame Tussaud’s, and first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine and Cosmopolitan magazine. She creates awareness and has opened up the transgender perspective for millions of Americans who didn’t know much about the community’s struggles.

4. She won a Daytime Emmy

Daytime Emmy Awards. Image by Greg Hernandez-Wikimedia

In 2015, she made history yet again by winning a Daytime Emmy as executive producer for Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word. The film explores the lives of seven trans youth, aged 12 – 24, and navigates through their journeys how they overcome problems like bullying and anti-transgender violence. The documentary was part of MTV’s Look Different campaign. The campaign aimed to use education to fight biases based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. It received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special, alongside its executive producer.

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5. Cox sued a hospital for denying her service and won

Cox has experienced all kinds of injustices because of who she is. One time she was denied services in a hospital because she was trans. Not one to brush off an injustice, she took New York City hospital to court and won! Eventually, we won and the archaic policy was changed. Another time, together with her friend, they were attacked on their way home in Griffith Park in what they consider a homophobic attack. Trans people are often targets of hate and traumatizing attacks. They go through discrimination disproportionately to the rest of the community. Their unemployment rate is twice the national average in the US and if you are a trans person of color, that rate is four times the national average. The homicide rate is highest among trans women.

6. She does not believe in marriage or having kids

Photo by Євгенія Височина on Unsplash

In a perfect world, everyone should make their own life choices without being shamed or ridiculed. However, we do not live in a perfect world. The pressure to settle and have kids is massive. Society portrays childless people as lacking and heaps of judgment on them. Some people do not want to have children for various reasons and this is ok. Cox is one of them. On Instagram, she posted that she is happy for all those that get kids but is more pleased that she will never have any. She pointed out that she is re-parenting her inner child which is work enough. This princess has also kissed many frogs but hopes to meet her prince someday. She also does not desire to be a wife but instead believes in love and hopes to get a life partner.

7. Makeup used to be Cox’s armor

Image by Dennis Von Dutch from Pixabay

For many Trans women, makeup is their armor. It hides what they do not want the world to see and enhances what they prefer to be seen. Cox was one trans who needed this. The first time she was fully femme, with a face full of make-up, felt like freedom. This was in a pageant in 1997 where she ended up as the runner up. From then on she was always confident while wearing make-up. Now, she is more comfortable in her skin and embraces her womanhood fully. She goes out on dates and even on auditions without makeup. Something she would never have done in the past.

8. She knew she was different at a tender age

Growing up, Cox knew she was different and so did the people around her. She recalls that her grade 3 teacher called her mom to tell her that her son needed therapy so as not to end up in New Orleans in a dress. At that time she had not even known the difference between boys and girls. But as she grew up, she felt attracted to boys which would make her identify as gay at first. She also remembers thinking that she would automatically change into a girl in the adolescent stage. She felt ashamed of such thoughts, worked on pushing them down, and concentrated on her dreams of becoming famous.

9. She was raised by a single mother

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Her mother, Gloria Cox bore the twins and was helped raise them by the grandmother. Cox’s biological father is unknown. Gloria worked as a teacher and worked hard to provide for the twins. Though she was present, she could not fully emotionally connect. She was bent on figuring out how to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. She did not acknowledge what her daughter was going through in her childhood. When Cox came out as gay to her mother, she was shocked. She did not understand anything; from the pronoun thing to the name change. She eventually got it together and sent her a plate that said, ‘No. 1 Daughter’ on it.’ This made Cox break down and cry.

10. She was mistaken for Beyonce

Beyoncé at The Lion King European Premiere. Photo by Sassy-Wikimedia

Someone posted a clip on Twitter that showed a covered-up Cox engaged in a tennis match portraying it as Beyonce. The post went viral with people asserting that it was not the singer but Cox. She was ecstatic to be mistaken for her idol because come on it was Queen Bey! Who would have thought that year later that Cox would come to collab with Beyonce on her athleisure line, Ivy Park? Not Cox. The Beyonce fan was over the moon when she got the call and could not believe it! Its campaign is about celebrating everyone’s uniqueness. It pushes the agenda that there is no one standard of beauty.