Marlo Mack, a blogger and mom to a trans daughter, was thrilled when she heard Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox was visiting her hometown to give a speech. Mack thought it the perfect opportunity for her daughter to meet an accomplished trans woman like Cox.
Though Mack admits OITNB is a little too adult for her 7-year-old, she showed her child Cox's magazine covers, including when she graced the front of Time. At a meet-and-greet after the speech, Mack's daughter ran up to Cox and they had the following exchange:
Laverne waved her Hollywood wave at the crowd, thanked us graciously, and then looked down at the little girl blocking her path.
"Well, hello," she said.
"I'm M.," my daughter said.
Laverne smiled down at her. "Hello, M."
"And I'm trans," M. said.
I don't think Laverne saw that coming. The crowd around me gasped their approval ("Did you hear what that little girl said?").
Laverne seemed at a bit of a loss. She looked around the room. "Is anyone with her?"
I stepped forward. "I'm her mom." Then I got tongue-tied in the face of celebrity, and forgot how to speak like a normal human. I have no idea what I said.
But M. knew what to do. She went in for a hug. Laverne crouched down to meet M.'s hug at eye level, and as I frantically snapped photos for posterity, I heard her say to my daughter, "Remember, honey, transgender is beautiful."
Read more at NewNowNext and Mack's blog.
