Laverne Cox says the country is ‘worried about the wrong %1' while reflecting on bans against trans population

CNN

06-02-2025

Laverne Cox is no stranger to being marginalized, but has found an interesting way to frame it.
While promoting her new series 'Clean Slate' costarring comedian George Wallace, Cox discussed the importance of remaining visible as a trans performer, and telling trans stories. In the show, she plays the estranged child of an older man who returns home as his daughter for the first time.
'In terms of the trans aspect of it, we're experiencing the most intense backlash against trans visibility that I've seen in my lifetime,' Cox said, in reference to new legislation against trans rights, following several similar laws in the past few years.
'You know, the Republican Party spent $215 million on anti-trans ads in this last election, and if you watched, you would think the last election was about trans people and immigrants,' she added.
'Executive orders limiting our rights, 26 states banned gender affirming care for young people, banning us from the military, from bathrooms… there's this whole anti-trans thing, and we're less than 1% of the population,' Cox said. 'Someone in my comment section said, 'They're worried about the wrong 1%.''
According to CNN reporting, a 2021 study found that 1.2 million Americans – out of a total population of around 337 million people in the country – identified as non-binary. The other '1%' Cox was referring to is often referred to as the 'top 1%,' namely the richest sliver of the population.
Regardless of the situation, Cox continued to focus on the positives and what she hopes her show can accomplish.
'In 2025, as federal bans come down attacking trans people, what I love about this show and what I love about being an artist is that artists can be arbiters of empathy,' she observed, adding that empathy 'can foster humanity.'
'Trans people have been so deeply dehumanized over the past several years. Art,' she said, in reference to her new show, 'getting to know trans people as people, is a way to rehumanize.'
She also touched on the comedy in her new show, which was developed with the late Norman Lear and counts him as an executive producer, and how comedy can often serve as the best weapon in the face of adversity.
'Laughter, because it's so catastrophic, it's ridiculous, and sometimes you have to laugh and we must laugh. And that is what Norman Lear always put first, is the laughter,' the 'Orange is the New Black' star said. 'I hope that – not just for trans people, but for everybody – ('Clean Slate') fosters more empathy, more love, more humanizing.'
'Clean Slate' premieres Thursday on Prime Video.