After a transphobic attack at a Los Angeles park, Laverne Cox is processing her trauma.
The four-time Emmy nominee took to Instagram Live on Sunday, Nov. 29, to detail the incident shortly after returning home from a socially distanced walk in Griffith Park with a friend. It was there, as she recalled to viewers, that the two encountered a man. "We passed this guy and the guy very aggressively asked for the time," she described, noting that she tends to ignore people who talk to her on the street. After her friend told the stranger the time, "The guy who had asked for the time says to my friend, 'Guy or girl?' My friend says 'F--k off.'"
Meanwhile, Cox is walking ahead and hearing the encounter happen behind her when "all of a sudden the guy is attacking my friend," she described.
While the Orange Is the New Black actress had pulled out her phone to call the police, the incident was quickly over and the man was gone.
The star told fans she was "in shock" and "super triggered" from the incident, noting her history of facing street harassment in New York. "It's not safe in the world and I don't like to think about that a lot, but it is the truth," she said. "It's not safe if you're a trans person. Obviously, I know this well."
Cox's friend hypothesized the man had wanted her to answer his question about the time "so he could spook whether I'm trans or not," she told viewers. "I don't know why it matters. At the end of the day, it's like who cares?"
The Inventing Anna actress noted that she had been completely covered up with a mask on. "This dude was looking for trouble…because I happen to be a trans person in public? That's all it felt like," she said. "I've dealt with this a lot, but I guess it never fails to be shocking."
While the world is in the midst of a pandemic, Cox noted she barely left her house before and has always been careful about where she goes and what she does. "It doesn't matter who you are—you can be Laverne Cox, whatever that means," she said. "If you're trans, you're gonna experience stuff like this."
As she concluded the Instagram Live, the 48-year-old advocate shared how she began blaming herself and thinking of what they could have done differently, but then pointed out that the stranger was "probably maybe not mentally stable."
Ultimately, the star took a stand for the rights of everyone, no matter their gender. "I think it's important to remind myself and remind you when these things happen it's not your fault," she said. "It's not your fault that there are people who are not cool with you existing in the world…We have a right to walk in the park."