Actress Laverne Cox Opens About Sexual Assault, Shame, and Suicide Attempt In Upcoming Memoir

You never know what God brings someone through until they share their testimony.   “Orange Is the New Black” star actress Laverne Cox is sharing her testimony of surviving sexual assault, shame and a suicide attempt in her upcoming memoir  “Transcendent”.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Laverne Cox recalled how a past acting exercise forced her to revisit traumatic moments from her youth, including being sexually abused at 13 by two older boys in a church bathroom and how a teacher said that taking dance classes would make Cox gay.  Cox says she attempted suicide at the age of 11, when she noticed that she had developed feelings for her male classmates and had been bullied for several years for not acting “the way someone assigned male at birth was supposed to act”

“Writing this book brought back all the traumatic, awful shaming from my childhood,”  “But there was also a very resilient child.”…“Dancing and school kept me alive,”  “My mother letting me take dance classes even though the teacher said they would make me gay and her prioritizing education, that’s why I’m here.”

Laverne Cox is a transgender woman who was born a male with an identical twin.   Cox has been a trailblazing advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, widely known for her role in Orange Is the New Black and her extensive work promoting transgender awareness and civil rights.

Laverne Cox memoir “Transcendent” is due to drop on June 9th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Laverne Cox (@lavernecox)

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Laverne Cox (@lavernecox)