Laverne Cox subjected to transphobic attack with friend in LA: ‘I’m in shock’
OITNB star says "it's not safe in the world" as she details horrendous attack in live video
Laverne Cox has shared that she and a friend were the victims of an attack motivated by transphobia in LA yesterday.
The Orange Is the New Black star discussed the attack on Instagram Live last night, in a video with the caption ‘We Were Just Attacked in Griffith Park. We are fine. Be careful out there. #TransIsBeautiful.’
She added in the clip: “I’m in shock and I’m triggered.”
Absolutely awful.
“All of a sudden, the guy is attacking my friend”
The star explained: “I just went for a socially distanced walk with a friend in our masks in Griffith Park. […] We pass this guy, and the guy very aggressively asks for the time.
“When people talk to me in the street I usually ignore them. That’s just the New Yorker in me. My friend tells him the time. Then, the guy says to my friend: ‘guy or girl?’ My friend says: ‘Fuck off.’”
View this post on Instagram
“I’m walking, I’m hearing all of this is happening in a split second. All of a sudden, the guy is attacking my friend. I look back, I’m like: ‘What is happening?’ The guy is hitting my friend, my friend is going towards him. I’m like ‘holy shit.’ I pull out my phone and to dial 911. All of a sudden it’s over and the guy is gone.”
Elsewhere in the video, Laverne says she has a “long history of street harassment in New York” adding: “I can’t believe it got physical.”
Sending our love, Laverne.
Saying that she’s “safe”, Laverne nevertheless added: “It’s not safe in the world. It’s not safe if you’re a trans person.”
She added that her friend theorised that the man “wanted me to answer [the question about the time] so he could [work out] whether I’m trans or not. I don’t know why it matters. At the end of the day, who cares?”
Hard agree.
RPDR’s Peppermint also replied with words of support, saying: “Good lord. I’m so thankful for your friend.”
Pose‘s Indya Moore meanwhile replied: “I love you” while Sharon Stone said: “That’s a lot to process. You seem like you’re back on solid ground now. Good job.”
Read the Attitude December issue, available to download and to order globally now.
Subscribe in print and get your first three issues for just £3, or digitally for just £1.54 per issue.
