Laverne Cox Responds To Trump's Potential Anti-Trans Rights Policy: 'We Exist And Always Have'

Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox is responding to reports that claim the Trump administration wants to roll back transgender policies, forcing transgender people to identify biologically. According to the New York Times, President Trump’s administration intends to significantly restrict the rights of transgender people by considering a policy that would exclusively define gender as male or female as determined by ones’ visible genitalia at birth. Such a strict definition of gender being implemented in the federal government could have catastrophic effects within the transgender community, including greatly affecting their access to vital mental and physical health care services. Cox responded to the reports in a series of tweets, writing, “We must not give up the fight. But in the face of this affront on my existence and the existence of my community I choose love not fear. We exist and always have.” She also reminded her followers that transgender people have existed for generations around the world. “In indigenous cultures all over the world gender existed beyond the binary and folks who we would call trans today held sacred places in those cultures,” she wrote Sunday. “Western colonialism drove those trans folks to the margins but we have always been here. Marginalizing trans folks is another example of the brutality of colonialism,” Cox continued. “This latest administration effort to legislate trans folks out of existence is yet another example of why the fight for gender equity must be intersectional and necessarily must include trans folks.” Cox specifically encouraged her nearly 700,000 followers to use one of their greatest tools in the fight –their vote. She urged Massachusetts citizens to support a referendum that would allow the state’s current legislation designed to protect trans-people from discrimination to remain on the books. “We need the citizens of Massachusetts to 3#VoteYesOn Nov. 6 to send a strong message that you value the lives of your trans friends, family and rote. neighbors,” she wrote. After reminding her followers that efforts to erase transgender people through Trump’s administration were not new, Cox also reinforced the need for everyone involved in civil rights movements to coalition build in order to achieve results. “This latest administration effort to legislate trans folks out of existence is yet another example of why the fight for gender equity must be intersectional and necessarily must include trans folks,” she wrote. Finally she called everyone in writing, “Let’s join together American and assert #TransRightsAreHumanRights.”