Photo: Courtesy of Time.When Time released its list of 2014's 100 Most Influential People, Laverne Cox was no where to be found. Oddly, however, she received the fifth highest number of public votes — even beating out the issue's cover star Beyoncé. Time issued no comment, and perhaps its newest issue was the reason.
Time believes we have reached what its calling The Transgender Tipping Point, with Cox as its cover star. Statuesque, poised, and authoritative, Cox's highly personal interview presents the LGBTQ activist and actress as a power figure rather than a power figure in submissive mode à la Marissa Mayer in Vogue. "We are in a place now where more and more trans people want to come forward and say, ‘This is who I am,’" Cox explains. "And more trans people are willing to tell their stories." What's more is that this cover and its subsequent interview shows Cox as not just an activist for a niche group, but an activist with a voice that's relevant to all.
Cox is just one of many narratives culled for the June 9 issue, too. It explores the history of transgender identities, takes the time to educate readers on the use of proper pronouns, and the difference between sexual identity and gender identity. Time recognizes the confusion that surrounds victory stories like Cox's and aims to dispel it. This is more than that one paragraph write-up Cox would've gotten on the 100 Most Influential List. It's an entire issue dedicated to a movement she's come to be the face of. If that's not a proverbial olive branch, than show us what is. (The Gloss)