Laverne Cox on leaving the US after Trump’s victory, hoarding estrogen

Laverne Cox was home alone Tuesday night watching the election coverage. But she decided to turn it off when it seemed certain that Donald Trump would be re-elected, after it didn’t look like Kamala Harris could win Pennsylvania. “He had about 246 voters. It was like I was gone,” Cox says in a new special episode of the podcast “Just for Variety.” “I cried.”

She adds with a laugh, “Then I watched ‘Daredevil’ and ‘The Defenders’ on Disney+.”

In the months and days leading up to the election, Trump and his running mate JD Vance flooded the campaign trail with anti-trans ads and rhetoric. I spoke with Cox via Zoom Thursday morning for a special episode of “Just for Variety” to get her insight into what a second Trump presidency could mean for the trans community in and beyond Hollywood.

Cox tells me that she and some trans friends are so concerned that they are considering leaving the US. “We are researching several cities in Europe and the Caribbean,” she says, adding that she knows of several people trying to move to states considered safer for transgender people.

Cox compares the possibility of a deeply anti-LGBTQ Trump administration to Weimar Germany: “There was a thriving community of queer people in Berlin before the rise of Nazism. They attacked Jewish people. They attacked immigrants, they attacked queer and transgender people.”

The following questions and answers have been edited and condensed. You can listen to the full conversation with Cox “Just for variety” here or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Kamala Harris was very pro-LGBTQ. What were you hoping for if she won?

My hopes were high. There has been a massive attack on LGBTQ+ rights at the state level in this country. I believe there are 26 states banning gender-affirming care for youth. In 25 or 26 states they ban trans girls from sports. There are also book bans that have happened in many states of queer authors, as well as black authors, black queer authors, bans on AP African American History. It’s all intersectional. I certainly worry about LGBTQ+ rights, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the attack on LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people, is happening at the same time that there is an organized attack on reproductive rights. There are right-wingers trying to abolish no-fault divorce.

How do you proceed as a black trans woman?

I don’t want to have too much fear, but I am scared. As a public figure, with all my privileges, I am afraid, and I am especially afraid because I am a public figure. I feel like I could be targeted. I think they spent almost $100 million on anti-trans ads. It is very worrying.

Did you call anyone on election night?

No, it was late. I had texted someone earlier in the evening who voted for Trump.

A strange person?

No. He is a cisgender, straight, white man. It’s really interesting and very complicated because this friend of mine said to me that they were sad. While everyone at work was celebrating Trump’s victory, he was sad for me. He cares about me and he loves me, and he was sad for me. That was interesting.

We’ve heard stories about transgender people hoarding their hormone treatments.

I have finished my medical transition, but I will have to take estrogen for the rest of my life. If I stop I get hot flashes. It’s really bad. I have to take estrogen just for health. I don’t know if that will still be possible. There’s a website I’ve already gone to. I haven’t purchased one yet because I’m talking to my doctor to make sure it’s all a reputable and good product. But yeah, I’m going to hoard a lot of estrogen. It’s a little more difficult for trans men, because testosterone is a controlled substance. But there are online resources.

Do you think there’s a chilling effect when trans and queer creatives, both in front of and behind the camera, start saying, “Maybe this isn’t the time for me to pitch this story. Maybe this story is a bit too trans or too strange?” Or we see a lot of inspirational quotes on Instagram that say, “Now is the time for artists to stand up and create art.” But when you’re trying to pay your rent…

I think we can make the art, but is anyone going to buy it? For the past eight, eight or nine years, I’ve been actively pitching shows, many of them transgender. Nice stories too. I love some of the shows that weren’t purchased. They were really wonderful, with really great people, great producers, great showrunners, like Oscar-winning partners, really top staff. And the projects were not purchased. It was about four, maybe five years ago, I thought, “They’re not buying trans stories.”…There’s brilliant talent, brilliant writers, brilliant storytellers who are trans, and there are so many trans stories that need to be told. But I have to be honest: I’m at a crossroads. I am committed to telling trans stories because it is my passion. But then again, I have to pay the rent.

What is your advice for a young transgender person coming to Hollywood for the first time?

I have a friend who has a daughter who is trans. She is 16 years old, and because she was able to, because she had supportive parents, she was able to transition before puberty. She went through a social transition and gained access to puberty blockers. So in her high school she is stealth. None of the kids know she’s trans. If a young person has the privilege of receiving gender-affirming puberty-blocking care and can live in silence, I would tell them to do so. That is of course not an option for everyone. That wasn’t an option for me, but I guess if you can live in stealth now… I’m so scared for her [Cox begins to cry]. I just want her to be safe. At this point, whatever you need to do to be safe and not be killed or terrorized so much as to commit suicide, [do it to] stay alive.

But I would also say that when I dreamed of a mainstream acting career as a trans person, everyone thought I was crazy. I remember doing this independent film in 2011 and going back to Lucky Chang’s [a legendary drag restaurant in New York City] and I talked to one of the drag queens. I was like, “Oh my god, I just made this independent film, and I just think I had my Oscar scene.” And she said, “Yes, girl, right.” Like, “This Laverne is delusional.” But look, I don’t have an Oscar yet, but it happened. I have a career as a working actor and producer and other things. Nobody thought that was possible. So always follow your dreams. Never give up on your dreams, no matter the circumstances. I would also say: learn the trade, get to know the market and be safe. Find ways to create your own work, create your own opportunities with social media. Be business savvy and committed to the art, and never give up on your dreams.