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Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox usually has festive and fun posts on her Instagram account, but on Saturday she took to the social media platform to share her thought-provoking tale of a transphobic attack that ‘she and her friend lived in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
In the video, she admits she was in shock and felt “triggered” after an attack from a man who “aggressively” asked for the time.
Cox, who was masked and wore a hoodie during the walk, didn’t think much about it before hearing the man ask “Guy or girl?” to her friend to which her friend replied “f * ck off”.
From there, things got physical when she explained that the man started to fight with his friend. Cox was surprised by the fight and called 9-1-1, but the altercation seemed to have ended as quickly as it had started. The attacker has disappeared from the scene.
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Cox felt that if the man wanted to ask her the “guy or girl” question and believed that was one way to target her as a trans woman. “I don’t know why, I don’t know why it’s important. In the end, it’s like who cares? she said in the video. “I’m wearing a hoodie and yoga pants, I’m completely covered, I have my mask. Who cares if I’m trans? How is this affecting your life? “
As a trans woman, Cox knows what it’s like to be harassed and bullied most of her life. “It doesn’t shock me,” she admitted. “Obviously, this is my life. I’ve dealt with this a lot, but it never fails to be shocking.
She is grateful that she and her friend walked away from the situation safely. However, she appears affected in the video as she reflects on the incident.
“It doesn’t matter who you are,” she said. “You can be Laverne Cox, you know, or whatever that means. If you are trans, you are going to experience things like this. Cox added, “It’s not your fault if there are people in the world who are not cool with you. We are allowed to walk in the park.”
This follows the recent celebration of Trans Remembrance Day which honors and celebrates members of the trans community. It also comes after a year where trans people – especially trans women of color – are murdered. The folks Nina Pop, Summer Taylor, Dustin Parker, and Yunieski Carey Hererra are just the beginning of a long list of trans people who have been murdered – and the numbers keep rising. Last week, Asia Jynaé Foster was found dead in Houston, Texas, and in October, Felycya Harris was shot dead in Augusta, Georgia.
According to Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide’s Trans Murder Monitoring Project, there were a total of 350 murders of trans and gender diverse people between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020. This represents a 6% increase in reported murders since their inception. updated to 2019. The majority of the killings took place in Brazil, Mexico and the United States.
Watch Cox’s video below.
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