President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a mission to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government, and those efforts have had a trickle-down effect across corporate America. So much so that it’s cost Laverne Cox approximately 90 percent of her income over the last few years.
Cox, a high-profile transgender star who rose to fame thanks to an Emmy-nominated turn on Orange Is the New Black, made the reveal in a new interview with The Guardian while promoting her first book, a memoir titled Transcendent.
“This regime has threatened to defund any colleges and universities that promote gender ideology, DEI,” she said, adding that she’s even lost teaching opportunities. “Even though I’d be teaching a graduate acting class, it could be perceived as promoting trans ideology. These are the realities. I’m not complaining — I’m very blessed. The important thing to note is that if Laverne Cox’s income has gone down significantly, what about all the other trans people who are not as privileged and as blessed as I am? There are material consequences for this kind of discrimination and scapegoating.”
The interview echoes earlier statements she made to Attitude. “I’ve lost so much money because of this administration, the past year,” Cox told the publication. “I managed to stay busy with acting and branding work, as well as speaking engagements. But I never thought college speaking gigs would dry up.”
