“Orange Is the New Black” actress Laverne Cox is debuting her documentary series about transgender youth this fall.
“Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word” will follow the lives of seven transgender youths in the United States, according to Rolling Stone.
The youngest of the transgender youth featured in the documentary is a 12-year-old girl named Zoey. Zoey left her California school after administrators refused to recognize her as a girl.
"For many of us, the 'T' in LGBT means more than transgender, it also means truth," Cox said in a statement. "The cast members in this documentary are fearlessly living their truths and in sharing their stories will send the message to other trans youth that it's OK to be who you are."
Cox was an advocate for the LGBTQ community before she starred on “Orange Is the New Black.” She was recently featured on TIME magazine, becoming the first transgender woman to grace the cover.
Cox spoke about her experiences to TIME, explaining how she felt about anti-gay rights supporters.
"It's scary to me,” Cox said. “There's a lot of fear mongering. I try to see their side of the story. They think that there are these people who were assigned this at birth, who are going to be infiltrating these spaces and, basically, our girls are going to be unsafe. It's a thing that stigmatizes trans identities ...
“These opponents don't really understand who we are. They don't really understand who trans people are when they're opposing these bills. Sometimes we're used as scapegoats too, to get other unfortunate agendas passed. That's the cutthroat thing that's going on. Some folks, they just don't understand. And they need to get to know us as human beings. Others are just going to be opposed to us forever.”
The one-hour documentary will air simultaneously on MTV and Logo TV at 7 p.m. EST on Oct. 17.
