Laverne Cox says she’s ‘lost so much money because of this administration’ compared to TIME ‘Transgender Tipping Point’ era
"If it’s affecting me, then it’s definitely affecting other people," the Emmy winner says of lost earnings, as she covers Attitude Uncut, out now on Apple News+ and the Attitude app
Laverne Cox has questioned the framing of her iconic TIME magazine cover from 2014, which included the memorable cover line ‘The Transgender Tipping Point’, while discussing lost earnings in the Trump era.
The Emmy winner is the latest cover star for Attitude Uncut, the digital-first publication available to read now on Apple News+ and the Attitude app.
“If it’s affecting me, then it’s definitely affecting other people”
“I’ve lost so much money because of this administration, the past year,” the star tells Munroe Bergdorf in the piece. “I managed to stay busy with acting and branding work, as well as speaking engagements.
“But I never thought college speaking gigs would dry up.”
Cox – whose new book, Transcendent, is out 9 June 2026 in the US and 25 June 2026 in the UK – explained: “I love that how we as a community have been very critical of that [TIME magazine] framing. Was that indeed the tipping point? It was definitely an unprecedented moment of visibility for trans people, particularly in the United States, I would say.”
“I was also working hard to try to lift up my community”
The 54-year-old went on: “When I booked Orange, I was 40 years old. I didn’t have any savings. I didn’t have any retirement. I was in student loan debt. I was working really hard to get out of a financial hole. But then I was also working hard to try to lift up my community.
“When Orange came out in 2013, I didn’t know how long that moment would last. I didn’t know how successful it would or wouldn’t be. Then, you know, there was [the] TIME magazine [cover]. I was doing speeches all over the country. I was doing whatever I could to humanise us by telling my story, trying to elevate the stories of other trans people as much as possible. We did a roundtable for Variety with a lot of other trans people.”
The Promising Young Woman star went on to add: “I tried to not make that moment about me, I tried to always reference other trans people, the trans people who were the most marginalised, who were being murdered, who were struggling.”
Discussing the changing political landscape over the last 12 years later, and its impact on her work, Cox went on to say: “This administration is very punitive with anything that suggests DEI or gender ideology, and corporations have been very scared. The past year or two, I’ve had to dip into savings and my retirement fund. So, the blessing is that I finally have the privilege to have a retirement fund to dip into, but you don’t really want to do that.”
“If it’s affecting me, then it’s definitely affecting other people,” the star added.
To read this interview in full, check out Attitude Uncut on Apple News+ and the Attitude app.
Attitude – the world’s biggest LGBTQ+ media brand and Europe’s best-selling magazine for gay men – last year launched Attitude Uncut, an all-new digital magazine that will be published six times a year (between Attitude print issues) and available exclusively on Apple News+ and via the Attitude app. Featuring long-read journalism inspired by themes resonating within the LGBTQ+ community, each issue will provide a deep dive into topics as varied as sexuality, identity, health, relationships and beyond.