Transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox has ignited a firestorm of controversy amongst her progressive fanbase after admitting she secretly dated a “blonde-haired, blue-eyed MAGA Republican” police officer who was 22 years her junior for nearly four years.
The 53-year-old Orange Is the New Black star, who has been at the forefront of transgender rights activism for over a decade, made the shocking revelation in a promotional video for her upcoming one-woman show “Gurrl, How Did I Get Here?” set to debut on 28 July at City Winery in New York City.
“He was 26, I was 48,” Cox explained in the initial video. He is a blonde hair, blue-eyed MAGA Republican voter who is a New York City police officer. We were madly in love.”
Progressive Fanbase Erupts in Anger
The confession sent shockwaves through Cox’s predominantly progressive fanbase, with many expressing feelings of betrayal and disbelief that the actress could maintain such a relationship whilst publicly championing LGBTQ+ rights and progressive politics.
“You should’ve taken this to the grave babe,” one fan commented, whilst another wrote: “So you recorded this, edited, and STILL pressed upload?”
A third added: “It’s the smiling with pride, that’s bothering me. As if it were a badge of honour.”
The backlash intensified as fans pointed out the apparent contradiction between Cox’s public advocacy and her private life. “Sooooo the morals are dismissed when he’s hot. Got it,” one commenter observed sarcastically.
Cox Defends Relationship in Lengthy Response
Following the initial wave of criticism, Cox attempted damage control by posting a 53-minute Instagram Live video addressing the controversy. In it, she insisted she never adopted her ex-boyfriend’s political views and had “never” voted for Trump.
“What was beautiful about the relationship I had with my ex is that for three and a half of the four years we dated it was amazing and we would agree to disagree, and managed to still have fun, managed to still see each other’s humanity and love each other across these differences,” she explained.
Cox revealed she met the unnamed officer on Tinder five years ago during the pandemic, initially unaware of his profession or political beliefs. “For the record, when we matched on Tinder, I didn’t know what he did for a living. I didn’t know his politics. He told me he did something else,” she said.
Accusations of ‘Fascist Apologia’
Despite her explanations, many fans remained unconvinced, with some accusing Cox of engaging in “fascist apologia” for suggesting not everyone who voted for Trump is a fascist. Critics argued that dating someone who supports policies that actively harm the transgender community constituted a betrayal.
“He voted against YOU! He voted against who you are and what you stand for, your basic rights! He voted against who you advocate for, your trans community. You may have ‘loved’ him, but he most certainly did NOT love you,” one commenter wrote.
Another added: “Respectfully…..I think you need to love yourself more. Because you SIGNIFICANTLY lowered yourself to be with a man who did not deserve you.”
Timing Adds Fuel to Fire
The controversy has been particularly explosive given Cox’s recent public statements about Trump’s presidency. Just last November, she told Variety that she and transgender friends were considering leaving the United States due to fears about the Trump administration.
“We’re doing research on different cities in Europe and in the Caribbean,” Cox had said, going as far as comparing Trump’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric to the German Reich of the early 1900s.
“I don’t want to be in too much fear, but I’m scared. As a public figure, with all my privilege, I’m scared, and I’m particularly scared because I’m a public figure. I feel like I could be targeted,” she had stated.
Relationship Timeline and Details
Cox confirmed the relationship began in 2020 and lasted until last year, when she said “lines had to be drawn” due to the political climate under the Trump administration. She had previously alluded to the relationship in January 2021 on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, mentioning she was dating someone significantly younger without revealing his political affiliations.
In her defence video, Cox emphasised that she consistently challenged her ex-partner’s views “with love and empathy” and attempted to see if it was possible to maintain a relationship with someone holding opposing political beliefs.
I wanted to see if it was possible to have a relationship with someone with different political beliefs, in theory. I fell in love with a human being who had different politics, and I was in love,” she explained.
Cox’s Activism Legacy Under Scrutiny
The revelation has cast a shadow over Cox’s extensive activism work. As the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy and the first to appear on the cover of Time magazine, Cox has been instrumental in advancing transgender visibility and rights.
She has consistently advocated for transgender women of colour, spoken at rallies including the recent “Trans Liberation Now!” event in Los Angeles, and used her platform to address discrimination in healthcare, employment, and housing faced by the transgender community.
Just this April, Cox delivered a keynote speech at a Los Angeles LGBT Center rally, where she stated: “The real enemy’s not migrants or poor people or homeless people or any other scapegoat that they claim. The enemy, clearly, is the plutocrats, the oligarchs, the billionaires and corporations who create these issues to divide working class people.”
Defending Against ‘Dehumanisation’
In her lengthy response, Cox pushed back against what she perceived as the “dehumanising” of people with different political beliefs, arguing that her ex-boyfriend’s “humanity went beyond who he voted for.
“We have to fight the fascists, and we have to fight the fascist regime. But as we do that, I hope that we’re not dehumanizing people with different beliefs the way they’re dehumanizing us,” she stated, citing activist Audre Lorde’s famous quote: “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”
Community Divided
The transgender and LGBTQ+ community remains divided over the revelation. Some have defended Cox’s right to love whom she chooses, whilst others maintain that dating someone who supports policies harmful to marginalised communities represents a fundamental betrayal of activist principles.
The controversy highlights ongoing tensions within progressive movements about personal relationships across political divides, particularly when those divides involve support for policies that directly harm vulnerable communities.
As Cox prepares for her one-woman show where she plans to discuss the relationship in detail, the debate continues to rage on social media, with many questioning whether personal love can truly be separated from political actions that affect entire communities.
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Image Credit:
Laverne Cox at PaleyFest for Orange Is the New Black – Photo by Dominick D, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
