Laverne Cox was subjected to a transphobic attack over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Cox shared in an IGTV video that she and a friend were out walking in Griffith Park in Los Angeles when a man accosted them for the time. After her friend tells the man the time, “the guy who asked for the time says to my friend: ‘Guy or girl?’ My friend says, ‘F— off,'” Cox said. The man then starts physically attacking her friend.

“I look back, and I’m like, ‘What is happening?'” Cox continued. “The guy is like, hitting my friend, and then my friend is going toward him and I’m like ‘Holy s—!’ I pull out my phone and I call to dial 911, and all of a sudden it’s over and the guy is gone.”

The attack has left Cox “in shock,” and she and her friend believe the man was asking for the time in an attempt to get Cox to speak.

“The guy really wanted me to answer so that he could spook me whether I’m trans or not,” she added. “I don’t know why, I don’t know why it matters. At the end of the day, it’s like who cares? I’m in a hoodie and yoga pants, I’m completely covered up, I’ve got my mask on–who cares if I’m trans? How does this affect your life?”

“It’s not safe in the world,” she continued. “And I don’t like to think about that a lot, but it’s the truth. It’s the truth and it’s just not safe if you’re a trans person. Obviously, I know this well. It’s just really sad…It doesn’t matter who you are. You can be Laverne Cox, you know, or whatever that means. If you’re trans…you’re going to experience stuff like this.”

She also reaffirmed trans people’s right to life by saying that people shouldn’t blame themselves if and when an attack happens.

“It’s not your fault that people are not cool with you existing in the world…We have a right to walk in the park.”

Watch her full video below.


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Photo: Getty