“People Think Men Who Are Attracted To Trans Women Are Gay.” Laverne Cox talks about being in love and the struggle of men who date trans women

Laverne Cox has opened up about finding love during the coronavirus pandemic, revealing that she is in a relationship with a “really great guy”.

The Orange is the New Black star spoke about her new boyfriend during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday (28 January).

“We’ve been hanging out for six months and we went really slowly, so the word ‘love’ just sort of happened around November, December, so yeah, it’s been like six months,” she said.

She continued: “This guy – I really don’t want to say too much about him, he’s probably going to be watching this – he’s never dated a trans woman before. My last two boyfriends also had never dated a trans woman before. The interesting thing, what I’ll say is that when you’re famous, you kind of want them to be really discreet, things sort of change. Historically guys have been like, ‘Don’t tell anybody,’ and now I’m like, ‘Don’t tell anybody.’”

She went on to say: “But the issue over the years for me as a trans woman, and other trans women, is that the womanhood of trans women is often disavowed, that a lot of people don’t see trans women as women. So the men who are attracted to women, people think they’re gay, and if you’re a straight man, you don’t want people to think you’re gay, so a lot of times they don’t want to disclose or want to let anyone know.”

Cox was speaking ahead of the launch of hew new podcast, The Laverne Cox Show, set to launch in February. She recently served as executive producer on Netflix documentary, Disclosure, which examined the ways in which trans people have been represented – and misrepresented – on screen.

During the interview, Cox also got political, calling on Joe Biden to raise the minimum wage, forgive student debt, and to offer meaningful coronavirus supports for those who have lost their work as a result of the pandemic.

DeGeneres asked Cox if she is “hopeful” for the future of LGBT+ rights under Biden, noting that he scrapped Trump’s trans military ban in an executive order signed on January 24. And Cox said she is hopeful, and praised Biden for also committing to getting the Equality Act passed – but she also expressed hope that he will work to improve the lives of those who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.

“In this moment right now, we’re in the middle of a pandemic, people have lost their jobs through no fault of their own,” Cox said. “I would love to see a standalone bill for the $2,000 cheque immediately. I would love to see the minimum wage raised. Biden can also, through executive action, forgive all federal student loans – so many people are in so much debt.

“We have a very short window to really help people, and so yes, I want my community to be helped, but my community is fellow human beings, and poor working people are struggling. So it is my hope that this administration will do everything they can.”