Trans Actor Laverne Cox: My Music Video was Inspired by Straight Men Who Secretly Desire Transgenders

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Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox, a biological male who identifies as female, says a new music video the actor produced was inspired by straight men who secretly desire males who identify as female.

In the music video for “Gretchen: A TripHopera Pt. 2,” Cox channels the mythical 18th-century story by writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which involves Mephistopheles helping Faust seduce a young and innocent woman, Gretchen, whose life is ultimately destroyed when she gives birth to Faust’s illegitimate son.

“In my version, Faust is actually Fausto, and instead of Gretchen being tormented by her desire for [him], it is Fausto who is tormented by his desire for [her], she’s the seductress,” Cox told PinkNews.

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In the music video, Cox is seeing portraying this new version of Gretchen, then gives a lap dance to a shirtless man portraying Fausto.

The Netflix actor said the “sexy moment” was inspired by rapper Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” music video, in which he dances on Satan.

Cox conveyed wanting to spark “some conversation” about straight men who hide their desire for “transgender women.”

The term “transgender women” refers to biological males who identify as female.

“It’s a great way to reflect on the ways in which a lot of straight-identified men find themselves attracted to trans women, often through sex work, through porn,” Cox said.

“Far too often, in my experiences, those men have been tormented by that desire,” the actor added. “They’ve kept trans women a secret and, in 2024, we should be way past that. But we’re not.”

Cox went on to lament over states passing new legislation to ban transgender medical procedures, but failed to note that such legislation prohibits transgender-related medical procedures for children, not adults.

The Dear White People actor claimed that those who want to “ban the existence of trans people” are the same people looking up transgender porn and “finding pleasure.”

“There’s something fascinating that the states banning gender-affirming care for trans people and [which] have the most laws attacking trans people, those states, mostly men, are searching for trans porn more than any other states,” Cox said.

“They’re simultaneously attempting to ban the existence of trans people while finding sexual pleasure in our bodies,” the actor added.

Cox also claimed that people who debate about whether transgenders should be allowed to compete in women’s sports, or whether children should be able to mutilate their bodies, is simply “a Trojan horse” for Republicans to eradicate transgender people entirely.

“It’s never been about children. It’s never been about sports,” Cox insisted. “The trans kids and trans people and sports [discourse] was a Trojan horse so that [Republicans] can basically begin banning trans people from existing [in] public life.”

Cox also suggested that children should be able to get transgender-related medical procedures, saying, “The state should not be involved in the healthcare decisions of what people get to do with their bodies, whether they’re children or adults.”

The actor also claimed that anyone who doesn’t have “a trans kid” has no room to speak on the matter.

“At the end of the day, if you don’t have a trans kid, it’s actually not your business,” Cox asserted.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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