Laverne Cox,is a transgender actress who studied dance for years before doing TV work that included Law & Order episodes and the reality show TRANSform Me.  She stepped into the limelight in a major way with her role on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, eventually becoming the first openly transgender person in history to be nominated for an Emmy and this recognition granted her the power and privilege to be true to herself .

  Miss Cox’s intersectional identities is being black and transgender. Being black, queer woman living in New York City in a difficult life experience than a heterosexual white male just by the merit of her experience as a woman, then epitomize her experience as a black woman, and on top of that a queer identity and this becomes a hinder to her as a person and as actress. 

Miss  Cox’s life was a little harsher in the streets of NYC, stemming from the narrative that is associated with a trans person that is constantly portrayed in the media as a butt of the joke or spectacle, being victims of extreme tragic fate and mostly unstable, and this idea of seeing a women with a penis just invoke throwing up. With this narrative associated with transgender individuals, Miss Cox expressed how in the beginning of her transitioning, people would just bust into laughter just by looking at her either on the streets or on the subway or find her revolting and physically becoming sick. However, Laverne Cox has proved to the world that transitioning into your true self can be powerful. She is changing the archaic narratives of trans people and opening doors for more representations in the media.