Laverne Cox Wants to “Rehumanize Everybody”

It was really the cut of the suits and the silhouette. He’s known for this hourglass silhouette, and I think because I’m trans and I have very broad shoulders . . . I mean, he and Montana defined the eighties with these big, broad shoulders with these teeny-tiny waists. That silhouette was achieved because he started working with the legendary corset-maker Mr. Pearl, until 1992. So girl, don’t get me started on Mugler.

In your book, you’re very open about money and very transparent about the pay you received for “Orange Is the New Black” and “Doubt.” You also recently spoke with Harron Walker in The Cut, and you talked a little bit about how the opportunities you used to get for speaking gigs have been declining. Tell me about your decision to be transparent about pay.

Well, at the height of the MeToo movement, a lot of women started talking about pay, and it became clear that we need to talk about money so that we know what other people are making, what we are worth, and what we should be asking for. I think, too, I talk about money because, if I am losing opportunities at the level that I’m at, then what about the working-class trans person who’s not famous and who doesn’t have the following and the platform that I have? I think that is just important to mention. It exposes that a lot of the corporate “rainbow capitalism” was conditional. We always knew it was. I don’t think anyone was deluded that these corporations really deeply cared about us. It’s really the system. Their fiduciary responsibility is to their shareholders. That’s the gig.

What was your time as a club kid like? It’s definitely a part of the book, but I feel like you say “I have so many stories” and move on. Well, tell me some!

There’s so many things that got cut! It was magical. My first restaurant job was at Stingy Lulu’s, which is now a Starbucks on St. Mark’s and Avenue A. I worked there a couple of nights a week. I loved working there Monday nights because Blacklist Performance Cult was performing at Pyramid Club at the time. It was a very underground, very avant-garde performance troupe that was started by Anohni. Her voice has always been pure emotion.

Limelight, at the time, had several rooms, and there was always a line around the corner to get in. One of the best things is that if you were one of the kids, you didn’t have to wait. I went right up to Kenny, who was the main door person, and he would always let me in. I was also in college, and I didn’t do drugs. I had to study, so I didn’t go out as much as some of the other kids did. But I was out enough that people knew me, and I never had to wait to get into clubs.

All the kids did runway back then. They would do runway walks, they would vogue, we would dance. And with my ballet training—I started studying [Martha] Graham, and we would join in, and it was fucking fabulous.

That’s incredible.

I never officially met Michael Alig [the club promoter convicted of killing the club kid Andre (Angel) Menendez, in 1997]. I was in the room with him several times, but I never met him. I did meet Angel. When I first moved to New York, people would always ask me where the drugs were. I’m, like, Why are you asking me? But I think because I was gender-nonconforming, I did not look like a cop. So people just assumed. To be clear, I’ve never done a drug in my life. I don’t judge—people need to do what they need to do. I actually think we need to decriminalize marijuana. But for me, my sperm donor was a drug addict and drug dealer and went to jail for that. But people would always ask me about drugs. I learned that Angel was the guy. So, I would direct people to Angel. I remember being backstage at Queen—there was a little stage—and just chatting with Angel. He was very soft-spoken and sweet. And then you hear about him being murdered. It’s just crazy.