Laverne Cox Reveals She Was the First Trans Woman Who Spoke to Caitlin Jenner
In an interview with The Cut as part of their “Women and Power” series, actress and activist Laverne Cox revealed she was the first trans woman Caitlin Jenner confided in before her famous coming out on the Dianne Sawyer show.
“I don’t know if a lot of people know that I’m the first transgender person that Caitlyn Jenner ever talked to,” Cox said.
“A friend of mine called me and said, ‘The tabloid rumours are true. Caitlyn is trans and she’s never talked to a trans person before. Can you talk to her?’ And one of the first things I asked her when she called, because I didn’t feel comfortable calling her by her old name—I don’t want to dead-name her—was, “Have you picked a name yet?” So I started her calling her Caitlyn then.
“We talked for a couple of hours and it was lovely. After she came out, people were constantly asking me about her. Initially I was like, ‘I’m not going to say anything about her until she speaks for herself.’
“After her Diane Sawyer interview, I did talk about her, and what I remember saying at the time was that it is so important that we have diverse representation for trans people — that we’re not all the same and that some people might not connect to my story, but they might connect to hers.
“It became difficult to support her, because of some of her politics. I’ve been very intentional about not talking about her, mainly because she’s become so divisive.
“But I have love for her. She’s still a human being.”
Laverne Cox was one of the most famous transgender people in the United States when Jenner came out in 2015. She’s currently starring in Orange is the New Black, which will premiere its final season next year.
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