This month, PPI celebrates Pride. Pride is about people embracing who they are and coming together to show how far gay rights have come. Although awareness and support for the community continue to grow, members still face discrimination and mental health struggles. During June, we want to educate and encourage you to learn more about how you can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community and support this celebration of acceptance and love.
Third to be highlighted is Laverne Cox, Emmy-nominated American actress, star of the Netflix series Orange is the New Black and LGBT advocate.
She grew up in Mobile, AL where she started dance lessons at eight years old. Her childhood revolved around performing in dance recitals and talent shows, with the hopes of becoming famous on Broadway and in television and movies.
Throughout this point of her life, she was very feminine. She was bullied and taunted in school and was made fun of by other students.
In college, Cox started her medical transition and living and identifying as female. She performed in drag shows in the nightclub scene, so she could still fulfill her desire to perform.
Candis Cayne’s role in Dirty Sexy Money (2007), made her the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character in a primetime show. Cox didn’t think it was possible to be openly trans and have a career as an actress. Once the movie premiered, she sent a postcard with her contact information to a list of about 500 agents and casting directors.
Sophia Burset is Cox’s most groundbreaking role in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series Orange is the New Black. Her attention was brought to diverse audiences around the world. This role led to her becoming the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an acting Emmy and the first transgender woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted tv series.
Cox is also the first transgender woman to appear on the covers of TIME Magazine, British Vogue, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Essence Magazine.
In 2020, she produced an Emmy-winning Netflix documentary, Disclosure, a film that takes an eye-opening look at transgender depictions in film and television.
Laverne inspired a world of people in developing an understanding of what transgender means and the issues they face. She will be honored this year for her advocacy work at this year’s Webby Awards.
The awards, presented yearly by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, or IADAS, are often described as the “internet’s highest honor” and they celebrate excellence of all things internet.
“Laverne Cox’s body of work in advocacy is as long and celebrated as her performances on screen. She has worked tirelessly championing for awareness and civil rights, so it is our honor to recognize her as Webby Advocate of the Year,” organizers said in a news release.
Laverne Cox Credit: Biography.com
Sources:
https://time.com/135480/transgender-tipping-point/
https://www.nydailynews.com/ny-laverne-cox-honored-advocate-of-year