Laverne Cox

“Each and every one of us has the capacity to be an oppressor. I want to encourage each and everyone of us to interrogate how we might be an oppressor and how we might be able to become liberators for ourselves and for each other.”

Our Black Pride series was supposed to end last week. But after watching Netflix’s latest documentary, Disclosure, I had to add Lavern Cox.

In 2012, Cox made a name for herself in her role as, Sophia Burset, in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series, Orange is The New Black. The first trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show.

She went on to win countless awards and become the first of many other things, including the first transgender person to be on the cover of Time Magazine; British Vogue; and the first to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy. And even with all of her fame, she has found time to advocate for trans-rights; trailblazing a movement - if you will.

Her latest contribution to the culture: Disclosure.

Cox is the Executive Producer of the documentary, which explores Hollywood's depiction of transgender people, and the impact it has had on American culture / how we view trans people.

According to the film, a majority of people in the United States don’t personally know someone who is trans. So naturally, any information or perceived knowledge they have about trans people comes from cinema and / or their peers.

I am one of those people. And although I consider myself an ally, I still learned how some of my views about trans people are based on nothing other than things I’ve seen on TV, or heard in the streets.

In fact, the only movie I could think of [off the top of my head] that was about a transgender woman, was The Crying Game. And I don’t think that what the main theme of the movie.

Anyhow, throughout the documentary, Cox and other members of the trans-community shared stories that spoke to their personal experience(s). Writer, Zeke Smith (a transgender man) told a very interesting story, about realizing that his favorite movie as a child, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, carried many demeaning and problematic messages.

“I was watching it in college - as I was transitioning,” Smith recalls. “And I remember being down and I think I wanted something that I knew was gonna bring me up and make me happy. And then we get to the end, and there is this long scene of him barfing, brushing his teeth, scraping out his tongue…trying to cleanse himself of the fact that he has made romantic contact with a trans person. Or with a man. I mean, you can see it through a homophobic lens - it’s both homophobic and transphobic.”

“[The fact that] you are a trans person who exists, can make people physically ill was the way in which my favorite movie as a child ended.”

The documentary is filled with myth busting facts, hard truths, both happy and sad stories. And I encourage you to watch it all the way through! It’s informative, but also entertaining - it isn’t preachy or sappy.

During a time where we’re all hyper-sensitive, while also trying to be more compassionate - this film is a great way to educate yourself on how to be an ally to the trans community - or really any community outside of your own.

Black Pride: Laverne Cox