Transgendered actress of Orange Is the New Black Laverne Cox appeared on an episode of Katie Couric’s talk show to shed light on their experiences as high-profile transgender women in entertainment. In short Katie asked her if she would discuss the “transition” aspect of her life, now note Transgendered model Carmen Carrera had already evaded the question. But Katie decided to try to get the answer from Cox under the guise of “educating people” not just the salaciousness of hearing how a the sexual organs are transformed. Well Ms. Cox was not going in for it and eloquently explained the reason for her resistance. Here is the quote, but watch the video because it is worth it.

“I do feel there is a preoccupation with that. The preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people. And then we don’t get to really deal with the real lived experiences. The reality of trans people’s lives is that so often we are targets of violence. We experience discrimination disproportionately to the rest of the community. Our unemployment rate is twice the national average; if you are a trans person of color, that rate is four times the national average. The homicide rate is highest among trans women. If we focus on transition, we don’t actually get to talk about those things.”

As I have mentioned before I feel that being Transgendered must be one of the greatest body image issue that exist. Imagine not just not liking your body in terms of shape and size, but actually feeling that you are the born the wrong gender. So often the heterosexual community gets so caught up in the sexual aspect of homosexuality, and transgenderism (how they have sex, which one is the man which is the women in the relationship etc) that the people we are pondering cease to show up for us as just that, people, flesh and blood, having to live, work and pay bills just like the rest of “us”. We don’t think about the basic discrimination and judgment that they often encounter just being… I’m not talking about the obvious discrimination like extreme violence, no we get that, I’m referring to snide comments, side-eyes, and unwillingness to engage with them…Ah the great subtly of discrimination (if you are black and been followed around in a store you know what I mean..) I think that what Laverne Cox has to say is extremely important and should be taken in to consideration as it humanizes these individuals, making them more than their sexuality or sexual identification.