Laverne Cox sounded the alarm over the rollback of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies during President Donald Trump’s second term, saying the social and political shifts have cost her 90% of her income over the past two years.
“These are the realities. I’m not complaining – I’m very blessed,” Cox told The Guardian in an interview posted Monday. “I think the important thing to note is that if Laverne Cox’s income has gone down significantly, what about all the other trans people who are not as privileged and as blessed as I am? There are material consequences for this kind of discrimination and scapegoating.”
Cox, speaking to The Guardian for the release of her new memoir, “Transcendent,” spoke about the effects she’s seen since the political right hastened its war with DEI policies in the past few years. The actress, advocate and TV host noted that she’s lost out on speaking engagements and contract renewals as these policies have been repealed. Cox added that she’s lost the ability to be an acting teacher for graduate classes because “it could be perceived as promoting trans ideology.”
“All these words had to be taken out of every piece of legislation, policy, government document: gender, gender ideology, gender identity, LGBTQ, DEI, abortion, contraception,” she laid out.
Cox, who rose to prominence for her role as Sophia Burset in “Orange Is the New Black,” broke barriers with that show by becoming the first trans performer nominated in an acting category at the Primetime Emmys. On CBS’ one-season series “Doubt,” she became the first trans person to play a trans character as a series regular on broadcast TV.
But the current political climate has had drastic effects on her career, Cox said, making her fear even more for those less fortunate than she. When she walked the red carpet for a voice acting role in the new animated “Animal Farm,” she took the opportunity to speak out about the pressing moment the country finds itself in.
“If we don’t wake up and don’t understand, trans people will be exterminated,” Cox said. “People’s rights are being taken away, people are losing their jobs, people are losing healthcare, people are being detransitioned in prison, gender-affirming care is being attacked, not just for children but also for adults. It’s never been about protecting women – it’s always been about creating a permission structure to scapegoat trans people, to dehumanise trans people, to take away our rights and to eliminate us from public life.”
The post Laverne Cox Says She Lost 90% of Her Income After Trump DEI Rollbacks: ‘There Are Material Consequences’ appeared first on TheWrap.
