Laverne Cox, best known for her role on Netflix‘s Orange is the New Black and her work as an outspoken transgender-rights advocate, will be the first trans woman to grace the floor of Madame Tussaud’s in San Francisco.
Cox announced the news on Twitter on Monday.
The announcement has been made. I will be a wax figure at #madametussauds in #SanFrancisco #TransIsBeautiful http://t.co/H0mbdF6oot
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) June 8, 2015
The groundbreaking announcement, which came shortly after Caitlyn Jenner‘s Vanity Fair cover, represents a major step in the campaign for public awareness and acceptance of trans public figures.
Madame Tussaud’s typically features only the most mainstream and admired celebrities. Cox graced the cover of Time magazine last year and has since made many public appearances speaking on behalf of trans rights, often drawing attention to the complexities of perceptions and portrayals of trans people in popular media, as well as our tendency not to understand those complexities.
See TIME’s new cover—The Transgender Tipping Point—featuring @lavernecox http://t.co/BIMM0rFCyV pic.twitter.com/O6rnzQKH8L
— TIME (@TIME) May 29, 2014
Following Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover, Cox released an essay on Tumblr explaining her thoughts on the cover image.
So many thoughts about @Caitlyn_Jenner's @VanityFair cover. I share them here http://t.co/iW5aMWoofV #CallMeCaitlyn #TransIsBeautiful
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) June 2, 2015
“I have always been aware that I can never represent all trans people,” Cox wrote. “No one or two or three trans people can. This is why we need diverse media representstions [sic] of trans folks to multiply trans narratives in the media and depict our beautiful diversities.”Photo via GLAAD/Flickr (CC BY ND 2.0)