A transgender actor says he has lost 90 percent of his income due to the Trump administration putting a stop to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Born Roderick Leverne Cox in 1972, Laverne Cox, 54 — a biological man who thinks he’s a woman — recently voiced Snowball in the newest on-screen rendition of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” but found fame in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” playing the role of Sophia Burset.
The U.K. Guardian spoke with Cox about his childhood,education, and his memoir, “Transcendent.” In an article posted to the outlet Monday, one particular comment by Cox stuck out.
Writer Zoe Williams made note of Cox’s claim that he has lost 90 percent of his income in the last 2 years. “Over the past two years, she has lost 90% of her income, however. Hosting contracts have ended and not been renewed. Corporate speaking engagements have dried up.”
Williams quoted Cox as blaming the Trump administration. “This regime has threatened to defund any colleges and universities that promote gender ideology, DEI,” he said. Cox said teaching prospects aren’t an option. “Even though I’d be teaching a graduate acting class, it could be perceived as promoting trans ideology. These are the realities,” he said.
“I’m not complaining — I’m very blessed. I think the important thing to note is that if Laverne Cox’s income has gone down significantly, what about all the other trans people who are not as privileged and as blessed as I am? There are material consequences for this kind of discrimination and scapegoating.”
Laverne Cox tells @Guardian she’s lost 90% of her income due to Donald Trump’s DEI rollbacks:
“The past year or two, I’ve had to dip into savings and my retirement fund. So, the blessing is that I finally have the privilege to have a retirement fund to dip into, but you don’t… pic.twitter.com/eRMzQ0GA5L
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 15, 2026
That’s a massive portion of one’s income to come from DEI.
How many engagements did Cox get? How many corporations were pushing employees to listen to this delusional man talk about playing dress-up?
That’s money that could have been spent on really anything else to improve workplace productivity or profit margins. It would have been better spent simply gifting it to every employee who was likely forced to endure hearing from him.
Is DEI dead, or is it hiding and planning to return as soon as it can?
Dead: 50% (1 Votes)
Hiding: 50% (1 Votes)
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 21, 2025, that read, “It is the policy of the United States to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work. I therefore order all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.
“I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”
The day before, he had signed another executive order mandating the director of the Office of Management and Budget, attorney general and the director of the Office of Personnel Management to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”
Most recently, an order was signed in March ending DEI in federal contracts.
The latter of the three has created a legal battle, as Reuters reported Democrats filed in Baltimore federal court on behalf of 19 states and Washington D.C., alleging the administration’s new terms are not clear, and they were not provided any notice.
Reuters added that groups representing university faculty filed in the same court in April, claiming the order violates the First Amendment rights of contractors.
So, yes, Trump, by the stroke of a pen, declared war on DEI, but unfortunately, it’s not going out without a fight.
Cox’s story proves just how wasteful these initiatives truly were.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
Submit a Correction →
