Transgender actress Laverne Cox on
Saturday applauded the federal government's guidance on transgender
students.
Cox hosted Saturday's 27th
annual GLAAD Media Awards, which honored Mariah
Carey and Robert
De Niro. Caitlyn
Jenner's coming out interview also won an award.
“[GLAAD's] work is really, really
vital,” Cox
told Billboard
prior to the show.
Last week, the Obama administration
advised public schools, colleges and universities to allow
transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. In
announcing the directive, Attorney General Loretta Lynch came out
strongly in favor of transgender rights.
“I believe when we can change the
hearts and minds of people about marginalized folks then that can
begin to move public policy,” Cox said. “I think the way over
the past several years we've had an unprecedented amount of
transgender visibility and look at what has happened this week. The
Attorney General of the United States has come out ferociously for
transgender rights. The Obama administration [is] also for the
rights of trans students. It's really incredible.”
Deadline
Hollywood reported that Cox's role in the upcoming CBS legal
drama Doubt will maker her the first transgender actor to play
a transgender series regular character on network television. Cox
currently co-stars on Netflix's Orange is the New Black.