Welcome to the show.
Aw. It's good to be here, finally.
-This is my first time here. -It is your first time here.
-And yet, we met so long ago. -It took a black man
from South Africa to make it happen.
-(laughter) -To make it all happen.
-Yes. -Yes.
Congratulations on everything
that you have and are continuing to achieve.
-Mm. -You're a trailblazer in every sense of the word.
The scene that we watched there
in
I guess, the culmination of a powerful story line.
-Mm. -One that you really got into as a character.
-Your character gets put into solitary confinement... -Yes.
...because she is attacked.
And this is something that is happening quite a lot,
unfortunately, in American prisons.
Could you speak to that and how you...
I guess how you process the information to play that role?
Well, what people should know is that trans folks are, um...
Usually trans women are housed in men's prisons.
It's very rare that trans women are
in women's prisons like my character Sophia Burset.
And often they're, um... trans women are
placed in men's prisons and then are placed
in solitary confinement for our protection.
They-they...
Prison officials reason that it's probably not safe
for a woman to be in a men's prison, and so,
instead of maybe putting them in a women's prison,
they put them in solitary confinement.
And human rights, um, folks all over the world,
um, agree that solitary confinement is tantamount
-to cruel and unusual punishment... -Yes.
...which is a violation of our eighth amendment.
And people who have been in solitary for just 24 hours
or a week can have side effects
from that for the rest of their lives.
Hallucinations, paranoia, suicidal tendencies.
Um, it's a really horrible, dangerous practice,
um, solitary, and when we got to explore,
when I got to explore this story line
on
I did a lot of research, too, and I think...
I hope we do a good job on the show
of bringing you into Sophia's mind state,
and the state of mind for people who are in solitary
-and what that does to someone. -It really...
It really is a powerful story, and the fact you're playing it.
I mean,
It gets it out there, gets people talking about it.
But you are in multiple places
having this conversation, as well.
You are also involved in legislature now.
You know, you are going out there trying to affect the laws
that are affecting trans people all over America,
including the Data act
that you are trying to be a part of passing.
Why is that important to you?
A-a few weeks ago, I-I-I went to DC
to do a press conference, um, about the
-LGBT Data Inclusion Act. -Yeah.
And for-for those of you who don't know,
basically it's an act that will require governmental agencies
to take gender identity and sexual orientation data
in their governmental surveys.
Right now we don't actually have an accurate count
of how many transgender people,
how many LGBT people exist in the United States,
because we don't actually ask the questions.
And a couple of years ago,
I was like, "What needs to happen for trans folks?"
And I was-I was-I was thinking on a systemic level.
And I was like,
"We need to dismantle the gender binary model."
And I started thinking about the census and data collection
as a way to begin to institutionally do that.
And I think another thing that people should know
is that, um, there's lots of dollars that go...
go to organizations that are allocated every year
based on census data.
And if you are not counted,
you're often discounted.
So those dollars don't actually go to LGBT groups.
And I think people should also know
that when laws like HB2 were passed in North Carolina
-that stigmatize... -Yes, the bath-the bathroom bill.
-The bathroom bill -Yes.
...that stigmatize and criminalize transgender people,
that kind of stigma is able to exist in part
because people are able to spread misinformation
about who transgender people are.
Um, what I do in the media is tell trans stories.
Data collection is another way
to tell stories about who LGBT people are.
Um, to talk about the disparities
that-that we experience.
And what LGBT people should know
is that this, um, eh, would be, um...
providing this information would be voluntary
-Yeah. -and confidential.
So that a lot of the trans folks, a lot of LGBT people
still don't feel safe disclosing
that they're LGBT in this country.
And so part of the work is making it safer for people
to proudly declare that they are LGBT.
I say, "Trans is beautiful."
I've been, um, doing that hashtag for a long time,
and people are like, "Why do you keep saying trans is beautiful?
-You're just a woman." -(laughing)
But I'm like, "It's important."
There are trans people all over this country, all over the world
who still do not feel beautiful.
Who still do not feel
-as if their lives matter. -Right.
And they do.
And I think counting us is a very basic way
to affirm that these lives matter.
You're definitely on the right track.
You're definitely, definitely on the right track.
Um... so you're not just in
You have some, uh, projects coming up.
You're gonna be in the... it's
-Yes, um... -Yes.
That-that I-I read,
I read that about you and I read that
this was one of your lifetime dreams,
was to be a part of the production.
You know, I discovered this movie and this character,
-Dr. Frank-N-Furter, became a blueprint for me. -Yeah.
The song "Don't Dream It Be It" became my own personal mantra,
and when the opportunity came to play this character
so many years later, I was, like,
is this gonna really happen?
A-a black, trans woman has actually never played
this part before, a-a-after 40 years,
and we screen-tested and they liked me and we made the movie,
and it's gonna be out around Halloween on Fox.
So exciting.
Everything you do is so exciting.
I cannot thank you enough for being here.
I cannot-- thank you for your time, your beauty,
your inspiration, everything that you do.
Thank you so much.
My beauty? Thank you, Trevor.
The new season of
is streaming on Netflix.
Laverne Cox, everybody.