Laverne Cox pens heartfelt message for Caitlyn Jenner: "It's a new day"
If anyone knows the courage and pride Caitlyn Jenner must be feeling after the reveal of her Vanity Fair cover, it's Laverne Cox.
The "Orange Is the New Black" actress penned a message after seeing theVanity Fair cover on Monday, comparing it to that of her Time magazine cover, titled "The Transgender Tipping Point," that came out just over a year ago.
"I am so moved by all the love and support Caitlyn is receiving," Cox writes. "It feels like a new day, indeed, when a trans person can present her authentic self to the world for the first time and be celebrated for it so universally."
While Cox, 31, agrees that the 65-year-old Olympian looks stunning in her Annie Leibovitz photos, her Tumblr post seeks to remind people that it's ultimately what's on the inside that counts.
"Yes, Caitlyn looks amazing and is beautiful but what I think is most beautiful about her is her heart and soul," Cox says. "The ways she has allowed the world into her vulnerabilities. The love and devotion she has for her family and that they have for her. Her courage to move past denial into her truth so publicly. These things are beyond beautiful to me."
She adds that sadly not everyone's transgender journey has been as smooth as her and Caitlyn's experiences.
"Most trans folks don't have the privileges Caitlyn and I have now have," she explains. "It is those trans folks we must continue to lift up, get them access to healthcare, jobs, housing, safe streets, safe schools and homes for our young people. We must lift up the stories of those most at risk, statistically trans people of color who are poor and working class. I have hoped over the past few years that the incredible love I have received from the public can translate to the lives of all trans folks."
"For me it is necessary everyday to celebrate every aspect of myself especially those things about myself that don't align with other people's ideas about what is beautiful," Cox writes. "#TransIsBeautiful is about, whether you're trans or not, celebrating all those things that make us uniquely ourselves."