Transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox will speak about acceptance, inclusion, the LGBT community to University students in an event called ‘Ain’t I a Woman: My Journey Through Womanhood.”
“Before we even found out about Laverne Cox, we knew we wanted to get someone that spoke about the current political climate and current social issues that are happening so we were looking through people and Laverne Cox just really fit that mold of who we wanted,” said Jamie Adelson, director of lectures at the Student Government Council at BBC.
For the event, which will be on April 11, SGA sent out a survey to students with a list of potential speakers including Jesse Williams, Gina Rodriguez but with the current political climate, Cox was a great person to reach out to the LGBT community, Adelson said.
“To have someone speak about the LGBT community, and not only… reach out to those people but she’s also speaking about acceptance and being who you are, being true to yourself and I think that can really resonate with all of FIU students,” he said.
Cox, whose lectures Adelson described as “topnotch,” feels students will greatly be impacted by her.
“…They’ll feel more confident in themselves because seeing this person that’s so confident and so sure in herself … her energy and what she stands for will pass on to the students and they’ll feel more confident in themselves seeing what she’s gone through and seeing her journey,” said Adelson. “They’ll feel that and say ‘OK, I can get through this that’s going on in my life…’”
The impact of Cox’s message is one of hope and overcoming adversity, Adelson said. He further explained the relevance of transgender issues around the country referring to recent laws regarding transgender people using public bathrooms.
“…I don’t remember the exact statistic but they [transgender people] are actually being killing at an alarming rate so for her to speak on something like that … people that are not a part of the LGBT community or people that don’t know much about it, having her speak on it … will really get to a lot of ears and impact a lot more people,” said Adelson.
The event will be at 6:30 in the Wolfe University Center Ballrooms and free for students.
For faculty, staff and alumni, tickets will cost $5, and starts at $15 for the general public. Visit: https://go.fiu.edu/lavernecox to purchase and RSVP.
Photo retrieved from Flickr
About Post Author
