Transgender Actress Laverne Cox Talks to GLAAD: "I Cried Watching Chaz"
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 3:55pm by Angela Dallara, GLAAD's National News/Transgender Advocacy Fellow
http://www.glaad.org/blog/transgender-actress-laverne-cox-talks-glaad-i-cried-watching-chazAs part of our support for the media coverage around Chaz Bono's casting on "Dancing with the Stars" and an increasing amount of transgender-specific coverage in general, GLAAD is excited to profile prominent transgender advocates and members of the community in the next few weeks. This week, we talked to actress Laverne Cox about her experience as a transgender woman of color in the entertainment industry.
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These achievements have made Laverne a huge supporter of Chaz Bono's highly anticipated appearance on a mainstream reality television show. "I cried watching Chaz Bono on 'Dancing with the Stars' last night," she admits, remembering that three years ago, there hadn't been any trans people on reality competition shows until she began shooting "I Want to Work for Diddy." "I felt so much pressure," she says of that experience. Although the number of trans people on television have increased since then, she says, it's important to include more trans people in scripted television with storylines that go beyond those that always focus on transitioning.
