Laverne Cox: I’m beautiful because I’m trans, not beautiful despite being trans
Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox has opened up about her experiences of being a beautiful trans woman.
The actress, who was catapulted to fame via her role on the Netflix prison drama, opened up about her experiences at the Daily Front Row Fashion Media Awards.
She explained starting the Twitter hashtag #TransIsBeautiful, to challenge perceptions of ‘conventional’ beauty.
Cox said: “I started a hashtag earlier this year called #transisbeautiful.
“And I started that because years ago, at the beginning of my transition, I would walk down the street and I would hear people yell, That’s a man. And I would be devastated. Because here I was, I had finally accepted my womanhood, and the world was not reflecting that back on me and I was devastated.
“It took me years to fully internalise that someone can look at me and tell that I am transgendered and that is not only okay, but beautiful, because trans is beautiful.
“All the things that make me uniquely and beautifully trans—my big hands, my big feet, my wide shoulders, my deep voice—all of these things are beautiful. I’m not beautiful despite these things, I’m beautiful because of them.
“So I would like to encourage every single one of you in this room to join with me in showing the world that trans is beautiful in terms of how we cover trans stories and diverse stories in general.
“There are so many different kinds of beauty in the world that I want to celebrate and I know you want to celebrate it, too.”
