‘Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word’ First Trailer Released [Video]

If you’ve been following the story of Laverne Cox and her documentary on the difficulties of being a transgender youth, you’ll want to check out the first trailer for Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word. The trailer, embedded below, features Cox explaining what you can expect from the documentary while sharing quick clips from the stories of several teens.

As a trans woman herself, Laverne is no stranger to these difficulties and the struggle to overcome them. Her own biography describes her as the “first trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show,” and that character was named the 4th most influential television character in 2013.

Even in that scripted show, Laverne Cox is changing things for trans people, playing the part of a trans woman in prison.

That’s not the sum of Cox’s work to raise awareness of transgender discrimination, either. She’s also producing an Indiegogo-funded documentary about the trials of CeCe McDonald. McDonald is a trans woman who was sentenced to 41 months in a men’s prison for an accidental stabbing death.

The Orange Is The New Black star’s documentary, Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, will air for the first time on MTV on October 16, LGBT Spirit Day.

Cox’s documentary follows more than half a dozen individuals who share their experiences. The subjects, who range in age from 12 to 24, will tell their stories, including the hardship of understanding one’s own identity, coming out to loved ones, and suffering through bullying and violence.

After the documentary airs, Cox will host an hour-long “Trans Forum,” where she and co-host SuChin Pak will take questions from audience members as well as through social media. They’ll be talking about matters from the documentary as well as other issues trans people face. According to LiveScience, 41 percent of transgender individuals in America have attempted suicide, nearly one in five has been denied medical attention, and many have even been assaulted in a doctor’s office. They face the threat of disapproval from family members, ejection from social circles, and violent attacks.

The forum will seek to fill in any gaps in understanding that may be left to audiences after watching Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word. The hour-long documentary airs October 16 at 7 p.m. on MTV. Laverne Cox has an inimitable straightforward, honest, yet friendly style, so don’t miss her sharing this look inside the world of transgender lives.

[photo credit: University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) via photopin cc]