Laverne Cox is thankfully safe at home after a terrifying attack this weekend. The Orange Is the New Black star was walking in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park on Sunday with a friend when the two were approached by a man. The man was looking to attack Cox and thankfully her friend stepped in and de-escalated the situation, but not until things got physical. Cox says the attack was understandably scary, triggering, and nothing new for anyone who is transgender.
Cox says she and her friend were walking through the park when the man approached them and aggressively asked for the time. Speaking to her followers on Instagram Live, Cox said that the man then tried to spook her by asking “Guy or girl?” Cox said her friend replied “F—k off,” and the man responded by physically attacking her friend. Cox quickly grabbed her phone to call 911 and said that the incident was thankfully over before she was able to finish dialing, noting that her friend was able to de-escalate the attack and prompt the man to leave them alone.
“This dude was looking for trouble … because I happened to be a trans person in public,” said Cox, adding that she was going to call her therapist to help her process the trauma. “That’s all it felt like. This isn’t shocking to me – obviously, this is my life. I’ve dealt with this a lot, but it never fails to be shocking, I guess. I’ve been trans my whole life, I’ve been harassed and bullied my whole life. None of this is new, but it’s still just kind of like, why do you need to be aggressive?” Read more via the Loop