Laverne Cox Discusses ‘Transgender Tipping Level’ Cowl

When TIME requested Laverne Cox to be the journal’s first out transgender cover subject, for a narrative concerning the struggle for trans civil rights, she didn’t hesitate. After rising to fame in 2013 for her function on Web­flix’s Orange Is the New Black—for which she would turn into the primary out trans particular person nominated for a Prime­time Emmy in an performing class—she knew she needed to seize her time within the highlight. “When the TIME cowl got here alongside, it was within the context of me attempting to make use of this second to imply one thing. It wasn’t about me—it was about my group.”

Learn the unique story: The Transgender Tipping Point

Trying again on that story practically a decade later, it’s clear we’re in a special period—one wherein information tales about trans points don’t spend as a lot actual property on definitions and historical past, however readers’ elevated literacy has paralleled extra troubling developments. “In 2023, we’re on the top of the backlash in opposition to trans visibility. We have now far more people who find themselves educated about trans of us, however there’s additionally been a rigorous misinformation media machine,” says Cox. “The backlash is ferocious. It’s genocidal.”

Since that cowl, Cox has furthered her performing profession with roles in Promising Younger Lady and Inventing Anna. She executive-­produced a 2020 Web­flix documentary, Disclosure, about trans illustration in Hollywood. And her function as an activist stays on the forefront. “Trans­gender folks simply need to exist,” she says. “Even within the face of the propaganda and the payments attempting to banish our existence, we’ve managed to seek out one another.”

Write to Moises Mendez II at moises.mendez@time.com.