This week on her TikTok, Laverne Cox bravely shared some shit, well, that she shouldn’t have. You have to leave some stuff for the waterboarders to have something to torture you with, and well, she’s gonna have to have something really juicy left because she revealed that at 48, she dated a 26-year-old MAGA police officer, and even crazier is that, according to her, they were madly in love. She stated that he was her ex-boyfriend and didn’t tell her followers why or how they broke up— ‘cause she’s going to reveal that at the show—but was happy to report that only his body parts rubbed off on her, and none of his shitty political views.
There is space for nuance and complexity.
Many of us in our right minds would not willingly date someone who supports Trump, but many of us have an idiot family member who somehow stans Donald, and we still allow them some of the good potato salad at the family barbecue, even if it’s just the last dollop. The difference is we are obligated to that person because of the promise we made to Big Mama to protect her youngest grandbaby after he got lead poisoning, not because it is an active choice. Being trans, Laverne probably finds it especially difficult to find someone who will love her out loud, but having a steamy affair with a blond, blue-eyed, MAGA POLICE OFFFFICEERRR, feels like she’s actively working out some unhealthy fantasies about power dynamics in her dating and sex life.
Yes, I am kinkshaming.
While she states none of her politics changed after that, they absolutely should have, because what type of politics allow you to be in love with someone who values a group that doesn’t see the value in you? There isn’t much gray area when it comes to the politics of MAGA; the entire premise is based on white male supremacy, and as a Black trans woman, Laverne is on the opposite end of the spectrum of people they deem worthy of living, let alone having rights. Again, it is probably difficult for her to find someone to love her out loud, but the truth of the matter is, a person who loves people who hate you doesn’t love you.
Laverne is not known for being slow, but she is being intentionally obtuse about why the “children are gagging,” in her comments, as she stated when she went live on IG to clear up any misconceptions. She even reposted a reel about why dating Black men is difficult and why Black women should consider dating outside of their race.
Dating outside of your race and dating someone who is part of a racist group is not the same, girly pop.
In response to someone telling her that it was “Just about the D,” she states that she wouldn’t date someone for four years if it was just about sex or his looks. I’m sorry, you dated him for FOUR years? Like the same amount of time we had to endure Trump the first go-round? Laverne goes on to explain that she will clear up any further confusion at her show in New York at City Winery, which she also promoted in the original cringy reel. She justified her love affair as an example of having conversations with people with different viewpoints, fuck people who are trying to fuck you over. She adds, “It feels like a lot of the people in the comments are dehumanizing people who have different political beliefs than they do.”
You mean they are dehumanizing the people who dehumanize you? Oh, Laverne, I clearly hope that your show sells out completely before you do.
