"Orange is the New Black" star Laverne Cox is on the cover of TIME, along with a cover story by Katie Steinmetz titled, "The Transgender Tipping Point: America’s Next Civil Rights Frontier." The story itself is behind a paywall, but a video and interview are available for free online. Here’s an excerpt:
Where is America when it comes to the acceptance of trans people?
We are in a place now where more and more trans people want to come forward and say ‘This is who I am.’ And more trans people are willing to tell their stories. More of us are living visibly and pursuing our dreams visibly, so people can say, ‘Oh yeah, I know someone who is trans.’ When people have points of reference that are humanizing, that demystifies difference. Social media has been a huge part of it and the Internet has been a huge part of it, where we’re able to have a voice in a way that we haven’t been able to before. We’re being able to write our stories and we’re being able to talk back to the media … We are the reason. And we are setting the agenda in a different way.
Read more over at TIME. Janet Mock, author of the bestselling memoir "Redefining Realness", wrote on Tumblr about how big of a deal this is for transgender communities. "Such a major media moment for a trans woman of color to be visible and vocal in this way, helping spark multiple conversations about identity, about the intersection of race, class, gender and so much more."