Laverne Cox's memoir Transcendent offers an immersive and often harrowing account of her gender nonconforming childhood in the Deep South, her long struggle for acceptance, and her eventual rise to fame. The actor, presenter, and LGBTQ+ campaigner details her brutal upbringing in Mobile, Alabama, where she faced abuse from teachers and family alike.
A childhood marked by cruelty and conversion therapy
At age eight, Cox saved her pocket money to buy a fan decorated with Japanese geishas, which became her favorite plaything. When she took it to school, her teacher Mrs. Ridgeway yanked her out of class, paraded her before other teachers, and called her mother, Gloria. Gloria exploded with fury, telling Cox that Mrs. Ridgeway had warned her that effeminate boys end up living on the streets in a dress. She then signed Cox up for conversion therapy, which failed but reinforced the message that she was unlovable. Three years later, Cox attempted suicide.
Decades of struggle before breakthrough
Before landing her iconic role as Sophia Burset in Orange Is the New Black, Cox spent over 20 years living hand to mouth in New York City while attending auditions and acting classes. She faced discrimination as a woman, non-binary person, and Black person, requiring dogged perseverance. The biggest battle in the memoir is between Cox and her mother, whose cruel warnings echoed into adulthood. Gloria frequently called Cox a 'sissy' and other homophobic slurs, and once dumped her and her twin brother Lamar at their absent father's home, where he called them 'fucking freaks' before they were sent to an orphanage for a month.
Understanding and defiance
Cox relays these events not for revenge but to understand her mother's tyranny, noting Gloria's own abusive upbringing and financial hardship. She credits her mother for sending both children to the Alabama School of Fine Arts, which helped launch their careers. Cox's sharp detailing of the loneliness and constant hypervigilance of being gender nonconforming is striking. She describes scoping strangers for hostility and running at any sign of danger. Yet she nurtured an inner defiance that led her to embrace fashion, strut down streets, and live openly as a trans woman advocating for others.
Transcendent is a story of resilience, rebellion, and a performer whose ultimate revenge for decades of abuse is success. Published by Merky (£20).
