Heroes in the Struggle: Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox
The Black AIDS Institute's Heroes in the Struggle Gala and Award Celebration honors, in a star-studded event and photographic tribute, individuals who, over the past year, have made a heroic contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Below, one in a series profiling the 2017 honorees.
Most people know Laverne Cox from her groundbreaking debut playing the role of prison inmate Sophia Burset in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. The role in the wildly successful, multi-award-winning series instantly made Laverne not only a household name but also a historymaker as the first transgender woman of color in a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show. Her Orange Is the New Black role also led to a concurrent and equally historic role as Cameron Wirth, a transgender lawyer battling injustice on the CBS series Doubt.
Less known but certainly equally admirable is Cox's passionate ongoing advocacy in the transgender-rights and HIV/AIDS movements.
"This disease has been a rough one [for many of my friends]," Cox told Art & Understanding Magazine (A&U) about her experience with HIV/AIDS. "I have had some dear friends, too, who have passed away, and I have some who are living with HIV—some trans folks and some gay folks. So it is a really personal issue for me."
Having grown up in the late 1980s and early '90s, when the disease was emerging and before effective treatments existed, Cox, like many others, was fearful of acquiring it. "I initially thought I might be gay instead of trans, and I heard about how it [HIV] affected gay men. ... I have spent my whole life in fear with the possibility of contracting HIV," Cox admitted. "I have been terrified by it, to be perfectly honest!"
That fear transformed into a passion that moved Cox to become an outspoken advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness and trans women, especially those of color. "When we talk about the [disproportionate] HIV transmission rate amongst trans women, so often it's trans women of color," she said. "When we talk about the disproportionate homicide rate in the LGBT community, we know that it's trans women, but we also know that it is mostly trans women of color."
Within her advocacy strategy, Cox directly challenges stereotypes and the harmful ideas that accompany them. "I've seen so many folks who I know and love shamed and stigmatized for having HIV—it is deeply, deeply painful for me," she told A&U.
During her 2014 United States Conference on AIDS appearance (beginning at the 45-minute mark), Cox opened her speech candidly, saying: "I stand before you today as a person who is somehow HIV negative ... I feel weird even saying that. We live in a world that assumes because I'm Black and transgender, I must be HIV positive."
Cox uses her social platform to combat injustice for transgender people as well. Following the statements by President Donald Trump on prohibiting members of the trans community from serving in the U.S. military, Cox released a statement to Entertainment Weekly, stating: "I have met many transgender Americans over the years who have served or are currently serving our country in the military. I have heard from them humiliating stories of being misgendered and experiencing various kinds of mistreatment when they are willing to put their lives on the line in ways many of us would never do, including our current President. ... This latest reversal of another Obama administration policy continues to send the message to trans Americans that our lives, our safety and service are less valuable and unwanted in this country, the country I love and hold so dear."
Cox also took to Twitter immediately following Trump's statements, saying: "My fellow trans Americans despite what some may say your existence is valuable. Your lives, safety, & service matter."
Ultimately, acceptance and understanding come through education and exposure. Cox believes that both can be achieved by the telling of stories and experiences of the trans community. On a recent GLAAD-sponsored panel on "Transgender Trends on TV Today" at the Television Critics Association press tour, Cox expressed the need for more trans representation in media, saying: "We've got to tell these stories better because lives are on the line. Trans people are being murdered, are being denied health care, access to bathrooms and employment and housing, because of all of these, sort of, misconceptions that people have about who we really are."
But Cox remains hopeful. In a recent interview with AOL, she said, "Even though there is work that still needs to be done, I do see so many more organizations trying to do the work to be more trans-inclusive and include more people of color [in their messaging]."
And people are listening. Cox has received numerous speaking opportunities as well as awards and nominations for her advocacy work, including being featured on the cover of Time magazine; named as one of Glamour magazine's Women of the Year, The Grio's 100 Most Influential African Americans and the Huffington Post's Top 50 Trans Icons; and receiving Out magazine's Readers' Choice Award.
"Can they do better?" Cox asked of media and mainstream culture overall in her AOL interview. "Absolutely, but there's always room for improvement, and I feel more included than I ever have as a trans woman of color in the LGBTQ community."
The Heroes in the Struggle Gala and Award Celebration will take place Sept. 16, 2017, in the Darryl F. Zanuck Theater at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles. To purchase tickets, become a sponsor, join the host committee or place an advertisement in the program book, click here or contact Wendell Miller at
Whitney Alese is a writer and blogger whose work has been featured in BuzzFeed and other publications.