Laverne Cox Opens Up About Transphobic Attack: 'It's Not Safe In The World'

Laverne Cox took to IGTV on Saturday to share the details of a transphobic attack involving her and a friend that took place during a recent walk in Los Angeles.

Source: ABC / Getty

In her video, Cox explains that she and her friend were “aggressively” approached by a man who was asking them for the time.

“The friend that I’m with looks at his watch and tells him the time, and then the guy who asked for the time says to my friend, ‘Guy or girl?’ My friend says, ‘F**k off.'”

This exchange quickly escalated, with the man going on to attack her friend. When Cox reacted by pulling out her phone to dial 911, the guy fled the scene.

“This dude was looking for trouble … because I happened to be a trans person in public,” she said. “That’s all it felt like. This isn’t shocking to me – obviously, this is my life. I’ve dealt with this a lot, but it never fails to be shocking, I guess… I’ve been trans my whole life, I’ve been harassed and bullied my whole life. None of this is new, but it’s still just kind of like … why do you need to be aggressive?”

“If doesn’t matter who you are. You can be, like, Laverne Cox, whatever that means,” she continued. “If you’re trans, you’re going to experience stuff like this.”

Further on in the video, Laverne admitted that following the incident, she started blaming herself, even though they did nothing wrong in this situation.

“I think it’s important to remind myself and remind you that when these things happen, it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault that there are people not cool with you existing in the world,” she concluded.  “It’s just – it’s not safe in the world. I don’t like to think about that a lot, but it is the truth and it is not safe if you’re a trans person.”

Thousands of fans and celebs poured into Laverne’s comments to express their concern and love for the Orange Is The New Black star. One user commented, “I’m so sorry hunny. Like you said, I’m shocked but, not shocked. So much love to you & your friend. Thank you for sharing.”

She’s a brave one indeed!

You can watch the full video of Laverne detailing her startling experience below.