Transphobia in 'Sex & the City' as Explained by Emmy-nominated Laverne Cox

Actress Laverne Cox is currently nominated for her role in Netflix's Orange Is the New Black and is even considered to be one of the front-runners in the category she is nominated for. In a recent interview with Variety, the actress talked about Sex and the City not just being her favorite show but how she is pretty much a scholar of it.

However, she admitted as to how she was disappointed with the show's depiction of transgender individuals, particularly black trans women. 

In the show’s season 3 finale, “Cock a Doodle Do,” Samantha is kept awake by a group of loud prostitutes who happen to be trans, but aren’t explored beyond that. “It was disappointing to me, as a black trans woman, to see black trans women enter the world of ‘Sex and the City’ and be so thoroughly othered,” Cox told Variety‘s “My Favorite Episode” podcast. “But being critical of the show in that way didn’t stop me from loving the show in other ways.”

Times have changed, and for the most part — despite exceptions like that — Cox said “‘Sex and the City’ holds up pretty well. “Hopefully we as artists can continue to do the work to reflect the times, and look back at a great show like ‘Friends’ or ‘Sex and the City’ and not feel like we have to discard the whole thing,” she said.

Cox’s favorite episode pick is “Running with Scissors,” the 11th episode of Season 3 from “Sex and the City,” which first aired August 20, 2000. 

At the time “Sex and the City” was on the air, Cox said she identified with Samantha more than any other character. But now she has a different answer to the “which character are you?” question.

“I’m Laverne,” she said. “I was Samantha but I was a closeted Charlotte. I always wanted to believe in true love and find true love. I did what I could do and that was be Samantha. But now I’m just Laverne. Growing up and coming more into my own womanhood, my Samantha days are over!”

As for “Orange is the New Black,” which ended its run this summer after seven seasons, Cox lauded the show for changing “the trajectory of television, certainly for trans folks but for women of color, for the LGBTQ+ community. Netflix has ushered an entirely new age of television and ‘Orange is the New Black’ was certainly part of that. I’m grateful I got to be along for the ride.”