People We Love 2016: Laverne Cox

Poised, eloquent and beautiful, Laverne Cox is a natural poster girl for the trans community, and in the years since her rise to prominence, she has been an exceptional voice for gender rights issues that many find difficult to understand.

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But this year also saw her break new ground as an artist. She was a powerful part of a soul-stirring season of Orange Is the New Black, during much of which her character remained locked in solitary by a system that had essentially given up on making a place for her. On the other end of the spectrum, her campy, flashy turn as Dr. Frank N. Furter in the remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show gave her a chance to embrace all the singing, dancing and incandescent razzle dazzle she doesn’t get to show off on OINTB. The sum total is an actress who can show us the lowest lows and highest highs — and still has plenty of character even when she’s out of character.

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