Laverne Cox: The Lovers And Allies of Trans Folk Need to Come Out

Taylor Barrett, our PRIDE video correspondent, went to San Francisco Pride, where she spoke with Laverne Cox only hours after same-sex marriage became legal in all 50 states. 

Cox talked about what the ruling means for her personally, as a trans woman of color:

I've always believed that any discrimination around marriage is so obviously unconstitutional, and I'm really happy for anyone who feels that the institution of marriage is something that they need to validate their experiences of love. But as a trans woman of color, I can't help but think of my own personal experiences with romantic love. 

So many times I've been told implicitly or explicitly by men that I've dated that I only deserve to be sexually objectified in private and not loved out in the open. And, this is the experience of far too many trans women that I know, and trans women all over the world, actually.

If we're going to love openly, what does that look like? I think, particularly for the millions of men globally who are sexually objectifying trans women — what does it mean for them to come forward and love us openly and declare their love and appreciation for trans women and join us in the fight?

We need our allies and we really need the folks who will lay with us sexually to stand beside us publically.

As far as what's next in the LGBTQ movement, Cox had this to say:

What a lot of the advocates have been talking about so eloquently is that a lot of folks who choose to get married can legally get married but if they talk about that marriage at work, they can get fired.

We need anti-discrimination protections on a federal level; we need policies like AB1266, which we have here in California, to be implemented all over the country, that protect our LGBTQ youth and particularly trans youth.

We need to end violence against trans people. We need access to health care, particularly for trans folk. We also need to have a vision for LGBTQ justice that is fully inclusive of people of color and working people.

On media representation of trans people: 

It depends on how the media representation goes. Not all representation is affirming.

When our stories are told in the media, it is important that our stories are told with multidimensionality and with humanity and when our stories are told, people out there who might identify could realize they are not alone. And, for people that don't identify as transgender or as a trans people of color, they can begin to get to know us as human beings and hopefully have empathy for our situations and circumstances and maybe be inspired to join us in our fight for equality.

Our stories matter and the ways in which our stories are told in the media are really crucial. I think it's 90 percent of people report that they have not met someone who is transgender, so how we get to know trans people in the media is crucial. 

Watch the entire PRIDE interview here:

P.S. When Taylor called Laverne Cox an "icon," this was her reaction:

We love you, Laverne!