Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox, born May 29, 1972, is a prominent American actress and LGBT advocate with a groundbreaking trajectory in the entertainment industry. Increasing her visibility with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, she became the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category and the first to receive an Emmy nomination since composer Angela Morley in 1990. Further to these accolades, Cox made history as the executive producer of Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, receiving a Daytime Emmy Award in 2015—clinching the title as the first trans woman to win the award. In 2017, she added another 'first' to her lineup of accomplishments by becoming the first transgender person to play a transgender series regular on U.S. broadcast TV as Cameron Wirth on CBS's Doubt. Her relentless pursuit of progression beyond societal limitations did not stop there, as in 2014 Cox became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine, famously pictured on the front of the widely read weekly publication. She also made her mark as the first transgender person to grace the cover of a Cosmopolitan magazine issue, specifically the February 2018 South African edition. In addition to her acting and advocacy work, Cox has made significant inroads in television production, becoming the first African-American transgender person to produce and star in her own TV show. Laverne Cox has proven to be a multi-dimensional personality, representing and advocating for the rights and visibility of trans individuals within and beyond the entertainment industry.