Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox to light Empire State Building in purple for Spirit Day and National Bullying Prevention Month

Laverne Cox at the 2014 Auraria Transgender Day of Awareness

On behalf of GLAAD and Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER), Emmy-nominated actress and transgender advocate Laverne Cox will light the iconic Empire State Building in purple on October 16, 2014, in recognition of Spirit Day and National Bullying Prevention Month.

Cox will be joined by GLAAD and youth featured in the new documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which will premiere on MTV and Logo TV on Friday, October 17, 2014 at 7pm ET/PT.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month when students, schools, and communities come together to raise awareness and show support for those who have been bullied. This high-profile national event was launched in 2006 by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center to raise awareness that bullying is a serious issue and people need to take action. It is now supported by hundreds of schools, countless students, major corporations and celebrities, and PACER’s efforts have spawned an international bullying prevention movement.

"National Bullying Prevention Month, which PACER initiated in 2006, was created to show those students being bullied that they are not alone and that communities care,” said Paula Goldberg Executive Director of PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. “Lighting the Empire State Building in support of Spirit Day and this important month makes a powerful statement to young people across the U.S. that there are people all over the world who support them and want to prevent bullying."

Spirit Day, which will take place on October 16, inspires millions to wear purple or “go purple” online in a united stand against bullying and to show their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Each year, Spirit Day draws the participation of celebrities, corporations, media outlets, sports leagues, schools, faith institutions, national landmarks, and individuals. Spirit Day is made possible by the generous support of its national partners PepsiCo and Wells Fargo, as well as official partners Comcast-NBCUniversal and Google, and supporting partner American Eagle Outfitters.

“By recognizing National Bullying Prevention Month and lighting in purple for Spirit Day, the world’s most famous office building is supporting countless kids across the world,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “At a time when eight in 10 LGBT youth are harassed at school, it’s critical that we let them know it’s okay to be who you are.”

"Bullying was an unfortunate part of my daily reality growing up in Alabama,” said actress and advocate Laverne Cox. “I am committed to doing what I can so that young people don't have to go through what I did. All of our children need to feel safe to be themselves at home, school and in our communities.”

For the fourth year in a row, MTV, Logo TV and mtvU will turn all its on-air and online logos purple to celebrate Spirit Day. In addition, Viacom’s Times Square screens will turn purple and run anti-bullying messages throughout the day. Emerge, Viacom’s LGBT affinity group, will also host a screening of “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word” with Cox and the transgender youth featured in the documentary on Spirit Day.

Las Vegas' Liason Nightclub Grand Opening This Month

Who's up for a weekend in Vegas? Liason nightclub will have their grand opening celebration September 20 hosted by the divine Laverne Cox.

Laverne Cox: The Making of an Icon

For years Laverne Cox struggled to find her place. Now she has a voice, a cause, and an audience. In the past few years she’s starred as one of the most memorable characters on one of the most acclaimed television experiments of the decade, and she’s become the person most identified with the transgender movement in the United States. For its August/September 2014 cover story, Cox talks with The Advocate editor in chief Matthew Breen about her upbringing, her early career, and becoming the face of a movement.

Cox knows that her past and her upbringing play an important part in where she is today. Now, in the midst of writing her own memoir, her origin story – one that began in Mobile, Ala. – is very clearly on her mind, specifically being bullied seemingly by both classmates and teachers. She remembers one teacher telling her mother, who later repeated it to Cox, “Your son is going to end up in New Orleans wearing a dress if you don’t get him into therapy right away.”

When Cox was bullied by other kids, her mother would yell at her for not fighting back. “She was concerned about what other people would think about her parenting, about her. There was all this fear that I would end up gay or whatever, and there was a lot of homophobia in my hometown. Surprise, surprise.”

Cox herself would hide behind her good grades as a sort of defense. “It’s sort of embarrassing to say, but as a bullied kid, [I said], ‘Well, you’re bullying me, but I’m making all As and I’m better than you!’ it’s a childish thing to say, and I was a child, but that was my mentality. ‘You’re bullying me, but I’m going to be rich and famous some day,’” she says, laughing, adding, “I’m not rich yet.”

After high school, Cox eventually wound up in New York, where she began both performing and accepting her true self. A few years before her medical transition, Cox began living full-time as a woman. She hadn’t yet changed her name or started using feminine pronouns, but was wearing makeup and dresses, wearing her hair long, and, she says, “getting tons of street harassment, harassment in the subway.” And it was an acquaintance, Tina Sparkles, who prompted a turning point. “Watching her and other trans women transition, I thought, This is who I am. And I was terrified.”

Sometime later, when she was in her doctor’s office getting her first hormone shot and was finally able to say aloud, “I’m transgender,” it was a breakthrough. “I never really said that before, and owning that was just a relief. I feel like it was something I’d been running away from my whole life, something I’d been fighting and trying not to be and trying to negotiate, instead of just trying to be who I am. It was just a relief.”

Cox now realizes that the fight is way bigger than just her. According to a Facebook post she penned, “It is no longer acceptable for trans lives to be stigmatized, ridiculed, criminalized and disregarded.” She now says, “If I’m going to have a public platform, I want to use it not just to elevate myself but to elevate issues that are important to me. I know a lot of people would rather not have me be the face of this thing…but what’s exciting about what’s happening now, culturally, is that there are so many more trans folks coming forward and saying, ‘This is who I am, this is my story. I will not be silent anymore, I will not be in hiding anymore,’ and that’s when a movement really happens, right?”

Read The Advocate’s full Laverne Cox cover story here. 

Laverne Cox to be honored at 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles

GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, today announced it will honor actress, producer, and writer Laverne Cox at the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on April 12, 2014. 

Cox recently appeared in Denver for Transgender Day of Visibility on the Auraria Campus (above). 

Academy Award-nominated actress Ellen Page will present the Stephen F. Kolzak Award to Laverne Cox. Page named Cox as one of her inspirations when she came out last month.

Today's the Day! Transgender Day of Visibility with Laverne Cox

GLBT Student Services at Auraria's annual Transgender Day of Visibility event takes place today and will highlight the accomplishments of trans people in our society. 

And if that's not enough to get your juices pumping, Laverne Cox of 'Orange is the New Black' is the keynote speaker!

Laverne Cox to Provide Keynote at Trans Day of Visibility

GLBT Student Services at Auraria's annual Transgender Day of Visibility event takes place March 20 and will celebrate the full diversity of the gender spectrum.

The event will highlight the accomplishments of trans people in our society and feature Laverne Cox of 'Orange is the New Black' as keynote speaker.