The s They are

a’changin’:

A Zine Dedicated to the Wonderful Laverne Cox

Do you see this woman? This is LAVERNE COX! She is a beautiful, wonderful awesome person!

What’s so special about Laverne Cox? you ask

Well… for starters she’s a transwoman and let’s be honest transwomen are magical human beings who deserve to be cherished and celebrated and honored and highly regarded

(Then again, wouldn’t it be revolutionary if we treated everyone like that? If we cherished and celebrated and honored and highly regarded people just because, guess what, we don’t have to be shits to one another?)

But I digress -

Laverne Cox is probably best known for playing Sophia on Orange Is The New Black - which in and of itself is awesome because unlike that guy from that mars band, the guy who played the womanizer in a fancy suit, or that lady from Desperate Housewives - Laverne Cox is doing a rare thing of playing a transwoman while being a transwoman.

I can’t speak for all transwomen, but it feels so revolutionary to have a transwoman play a transwoman ((BECAUSE WE’RE SO USED TO TRANSWOMEN BEING PLAYED BY CISPEOPLE))

You may find yourself asking, “So, what? What’s the big deal?”

And why is it a big deal, why am I so glad about Laverne Cox and her awesomeness?

Because let me tell you about representation -

representation is when you can turn on the television and see people like yourself

representation is when you have easy access to heroes who have similar lived experiences as you do

REPRESENTATION IS NECESSARY!

And why does the transwoman community need representation?

BECAUSE

I COULD

MAKE

AN

ENTIRE

ZINE

COMPOSED

WITH

ONLY

THE

NAMES

AND

FACES

OF

MURDERED

TRANSWOMEN

But I’ve misplaced my original intent

Which is to celebrate this wonderful woman

Laverne Cox has been recognized on the Trans 100 list in 2013, won a GLAAD media award this year. She has spoken candidly to the media (including her interview with Katie Couric where she defended Carmen Carrera’s righteous anger and responsed to Couric’s attempts at sensationalizing the transwoman body and life**) and she has been working on a documentary with CeCe McDonald to tell McDonald’s story.

** Laverne’s commets to Couric: “I do feel there is a preoccupation with that. The preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people. And then we don’t get to really deal with the real lived experiences. The reality of trans people’s

lives is that so often we are targets of violence. We experience discrimination disproportionately to the rest of the community. Our unemployment rate is twice the national

average; if you are a trans person of color, that rate is four times the national average.

The homicide rate is highest among trans women. If we focus on transition, we don’t actually get to talk about those things.” **

Laverne Cox is an inspiration, pure and simple, working tirelessly to make this world a better place for transwomen, and for that I applaud her!

Check out all things Laverne related at http://www.lavernecox.com/Check out all things Free CeCe at http://www.lavernecox.com/free-cece/

WE LOVE YOU LAVERNE

** Images of Eyricka Morgan, Islan Nettles, Konyale Madden, Melony Smith, Domonique Newburn, Mylene, Sevda Basar, Prince Joe, Diamon Williams, Dora Oezer, Diana Martinez, Wanda, Laura Aguilar, Cemia Acoff, Ashley Sinclair, Kelly Young and Milan Boudreaux courtesy of http://lexiecannes.com/ **