Laverne Cox is the first transgender woman to grace the cover of Cosmopolitan

  • 23/01/2018
Laverne Cox is the first transgender woman to grace the cover of Cosmopolitan
Photo credit: Getty

Laverne Cox has made history by becoming the first transgender woman to be featured on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine.

The Orange is the New Black star is the cover model for Cosmopolitan South Africa's new LGBT-focused 'Say Yes to Love' edition.

Cox also delivers an impassioned message to readers in the magazine in the form of a hand-written note.

"Your voice matters, the truth of who you know yourselves to be matters. The truth will set you free!" it reads.

"Trans women deserve to be loved out in the open and in the light."

Laverne Cox Makes History As Cosmopolitan’s First Transgender Cover Girl.
Photo credit: Cosmopolitan

Cox was previously the first transgender person to grace the cover of Time magazine, in 2014. She is also the first transgender person to be recreated as a waxwork by Madame Tussauds.

Holly Meadows, a spokesperson for Cosmopolitan, calls Cox a "revolutionary icon".

"We wanted to disrupt hetero-normative ideas around February and Valentine's Day and look at love in 2018 including acceptance of self, others and non-binary relationships," she said.

"Cox is the world's most vocal trans poster girl and an activist for the intersection of race, class and gender identities, challenging toxic masculinity, white supremacy and the misrepresentation of trans people."

"For us at Cosmopolitan, love - at least for this issue - is celebrating Laverne as the fun, fearless female she is."

The 'Say Yes to Love' edition is Cosmopolitan South Africa's February issue.

Newshub.