The actor said that part of the reason why such an anti-LGBTQ+ cultural climate has become possible is because of “really effective propaganda from the right wing.”
“I mean, it’s not an accident that Trump is going on all these like, you know, bro podcasts,” Cox clamored. To that end, she insisted that allies in Hollywood and traditional media “need to step up,” aka hire more trans people.
“Having trans characters, queer characters, having us in your ad campaigns — these are acts of solidarity, because we need to work,” Cox said, adding that the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike reinforced for her that actors are “gig workers,” and that “at the end of the day, that work can go away,” as it has for many entertainment professionals with whom she’s spoken.
Cox pointed to GLAAD’s annual Studio Responsibility Index, which surveys the state of LGBTQ+ inclusion in mainstream entertainment. The most recent survey found that in 2023, overall LGBTQ+ representation decreased, with only two trans characters across all of the year’s movies. In 2022, there were 13 characters. Cox attributed this decrease to the fact that “the corporations are scared, production companies are scared, and that is part of the terrorism that has been happening.”
Malkin also asked Cox about whether she’s considered leaving the U.S., to which her answer was an emphatic yes, though she said she probably can’t move in the next year because of various projects she’s currently working on. “But yeah, the girls are doing research on different cities in Europe, in the Caribbean,” she said.
She encouraged LGBTQ+ people to “make sure your passports are up to date,” and to make sure that people update their gender markers to ensure that they’re consistent. Cox also recommended that people “save as much money as you can,” though she also acknowledged that “being able to flee the country is obviously something privileged people can do.”
But Cox, who fashions herself “a bit of a historian,” also pointed to the fact that “there are stories of trans girls as early as 1955 in Chicago, working the streets, getting hormones.”
“We need plans in place and we are leaning on community, leaning on each other, mutual aid, finding ways to get these funds to help people flee states,” Cox said.
You can listen to the full episode with Cox here.
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