Actress and trans activist Laverne Cox has shared her distress following a series of murders targeting trans women of colour in the United States.
Responding to the recent murders of and , Cox uploaded a tearful video to Instagram, writing: "It’s insanely painful to keep reading reports of trans folks being murdered."
"My entire life, I feel like I have had to live with the reality of violence against trans people as if it’s just something we have to accept but it’s unacceptable. No one’s life should be in danger simply for being who they are."
She added: "But if you are a person of color, a trans or gender nonconforming person or both this is so sadly the case."
The Orange Is The New Black star continued: "I know other trans folks and our allies have felt broken by these relentless attacks. Then the news today that the federal government will deny equal access to shelters for trans people experiencing homelessness.
"Sometimes you just have to cry. This video feels messy and weird especially with the wind and the bikini. But what’s going on in this country, in the world is messy and weird. Let’s give ourselves space to grieve, to be sad, to be messy in healthy ways."
Captioning the video, which now has over 600,000 views, with a call-to-action, Cox wrote: "Let’s continue to plot how we are going to make change in our parts of the world, in our communities, in our hearts and minds and in our public policies that can end the structural and interpersonal violence that’s taking far too many lives."
According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), 26 transgender people, the majority women, were killed in 2018 - with 80 per cent of trans women killed in the past six years being women of colour.
