Laverne Cox celebrated her 50th birthday with a Barbie-themed bash at the Moxy Times Square Hotel in New York. On the same day she's been interviewed by a national television. Here is what she said in her interview.
"It's a moment, It's not every day that you have a Barbie made in your image. It's not every day you turn 50, let's celebrate."
"I would say, 'Well, this is an opportunity to change the conversation about trans people. This is an opportunity to represent a group of people who have always existed, but who have not been represented. So it's been bigger than me.'"
"And it feels like not an accident in God's universe that this Barbie is coming out in a year where there's unprecedented attacks on trans youth all over this country."
"We have to push back in so many ways, a Barbie is a small way, but hopefully Barbie will inspire people to take action and do more."
"When I grew up, there wasn't nearly this kind of trans visibility, So now there is and there's no stopping us. I think kids need to know that. Adults need to know it, too."
"They [trans youth] need to see themselves, I think so often, we grow up and we feel shame about who we are. And we feel alone. But when you turn on the television and see someone who looks like us who has a similar story to ours, it's like, 'Oh, I'm not alone. Oh, I can be trans and Black and working class background and live my dreams out in America. It's possible.'"
"Let's watch something and have a conversation so that we can be better allies and support. And I think that's not something that doesn't just go for trans people, it goes for people with disabilities, people of color."
"Person to person contact is so crucial."
"There's a lot of people I haven't seen in a while, The people I invited, I really love and care about and I just want to give them a big hug and say thank you because a lot of them have changed my life in really positive ways."
"Without a test, there's no testimony."
"Everything that has happened to me, good, bad, ugly, traumatizing, is a gift, It's a gift and when I can own all of that—the pain, the trauma, the tragedy—I can use it in my work as an artist [and] use it to be of service and tell the story."
