Laverne Cox speaks out about whether she plans to leave the U.S. following Donald Trump’s election victory.
The 52-year-old transgender actress, who recently attended the InStyle Imagemaker Awards, discussed the possibility of leaving the country in a new interview with Variety. The Orange Is The New Black star shared that she and some friends are concerned about Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric and are thinking about getting out of the U.S. “We’re doing research on different cities in Europe and in the Caribbean,” Cox revealed.
“I don’t want to be in too much fear, but I’m scared. As a public figure, with all my privilege, I’m scared, and I’m particularly scared because I’m a public figure. I feel like I could be targeted. I think they spent close to $100 million on anti-trans ads. It’s deeply concerning.”
Trump will become the 47th president of the U.S. after defeating Kamala Harris last Tuesday.
He has been very vocal about his views on the transgender community, revealing his plans during an all-female Fox News town hall on The Faulkner Focus just weeks before his re-election. When asked about transgender participation in women’s sports, Trump stated that he intends to “just ban it.”
“It’s such an easy question,” he said as he smiled. “Everybody in the room and you know that answer, we’re not going to let it happen.”
“Just yesterday they had a volleyball match, did you see that? Where a person that transitioned, we have to be very careful because this can terminate your political career if you say it slightly off, but transitioned from man to female,” the president elect added.
The former president appeared to be referencing Blaire Fleming, a volleyball player from San Jose State University (SJSU).
Fleming, a redshirt senior, has been mentioned as the reason four schools have forfeited matches against SJSU this season due to safety concerns. Recently, a video went viral showing her spiking a ball that hit another player hard in the face, which even caught the attention of the broadcaster, who noted the woman’s pink face after the impact.