"Orange Is The New Black " star Laverne Cox shared a heartbreaking post on Instagram live this week. She stated that she and a male friend were attacked at Griffith Park in Los Angeles while taking a walk.
The 10-minute live video of Cox speaking out about the incident left her "triggered" and " in shock". While walking with her friend, a man “aggressively” asked them for the time. As the friend looked at his watch to tell the man the time, Cox said the man asked her if she was a “guy or girl”.
Immediately her male friend came to her defense and told the guy to "f*ck off", but as Cox began to walk away the guy attacked her friend. Her very first instinct was to take her phone out and call the police but before she could dial 9-1-1 the guy ran off. In a split second Cox couldn't believe what just happened but admits that it's nothing new to her as a black trans woman.
"It's happened to me a lot...I've had a whole history, if any of you have heard my story. I have a long history of street harassment in New York .That sort of being clocked or spooked, called out of the street and I just couldn't believe it got physical. I guess I can believe it...its not safe in the world if you're a trans person," said Laverne.
Trans and LGBT Influencers like Ts Madison, Indya Moore and many others shared love and support during this time of disbelief.
Laverne Cox responded to all the love and support in a new 35 minute Instagram video, "I'm overwhelmed by all the love that you've sent me...i'm immensely grateful."
She then takes a deep breath and admits the shame behind the incident goes back to her childhood.
"I have some shame about what happened on Saturday...I was bullied in school, I didn't tell my mother because my mother would always ask me why I didn't fight back and she would shame me for...it is crucial not to be defined by violence that happens to you." - Laverne Cox
Cox became the first transgender woman to be nominated for an Emmy award for character "Sophia Burset" in Orange is the New Black, the Netflix series about inmates at a women’s prison. This year Cox released Disclosure, a Netflix documentary on trans representation. She has continued to pave the way for trans and black people nationwide and incidents like this will only make her stronger.