President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a mission to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government, and these efforts have had a trickle-down effect across corporate America. So much so that it has cost Laverne Cox about 90 percent of her income over the past few years.
Cox, a high-profile transgender star, rose to fame thanks to her Emmy-nominated role Orange is the new blackThis revelation came in a new interview with The Guardian While promoting her first book, a memoir titled transcendent.
“This regime has threatened to stop funding any colleges and universities that promote gender ideology, DEI,” she said, adding that she has even lost teaching opportunities. “Even though I will be teaching a graduate acting class, it could be seen as promoting trans ideology. These are the facts. I’m not complaining — I’m very lucky. The important thing to note is that if Laverne Cox’s income drops so dramatically, what about all the other trans people who aren’t as privileged and blessed as I am? There are material consequences to this kind of discrimination and scapegoating.”
The interview repeats previous statements she made behavior. “I lost a lot of money because of this administration last year,” Cox told the publication. “I’ve been able to stay busy with acting and branding work, as well as speaking engagements. But I never thought my college speaking gigs would dry up.”
Because of the impact on her bank account, Cox said she had to draw from reserves to stay afloat. “In the last year or two, I’ve had to turn to savings and my retirement fund. So, the blessing is that I finally have the privilege of having a retirement fund to invest in, but you don’t really want to do that. If it affects me, it certainly affects other people.”
And not just financially.
She also said: “If we don’t wake up and understand, trans people will be exterminated.” The Guardian. “People’s rights are being taken away, people are losing their jobs, people are losing health care, people are being taken to prison, gender-affirming care is under attack, not just for children but also for adults. It was never about protecting women — it was always about creating a permission structure to scapegoat trans people, strip trans people of their humanity, take away our rights and keep us out of public life.”
