Laverne Cox Reveals Why Her Twin Brother ‘Doesn’t Talk’ to Their Mom, Why She Forgave Her for Years of Abuse (Exclusive)
Laverne Cox Reveals Why Her Twin Brother ‘Doesn’t Talk’ to Their Mom, Why She Forgave Her for Years of Abuse (Exclusive)
Lizzie HymanSun, May 31, 2026 at 3:15 PM UTC
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Laverne Cox and Gloria Cox in 2016.
Credit: Broadimage/Shutterstock
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Laverne Cox is opening up about where she and her brother stand with their mother after years of verbal abuse and neglect during childhood, including a period where they were left in an orphanage for a month
“My brother doesn’t talk to my mother, but I’ve moved to a new place with my mom, where I understand that she did the best she could with what she had,” she tells PEOPLE in this week's issue
The actress and LGBTQ+ advocate's new memoir, Transcendent, is available for purchase on June 9
Laverne Cox is sharing where she and her brother now stand with their mother after enduring years of abuse during childhood.
“I questioned everything around me because everyone was telling me I was a boy, but I knew I was a girl. My mother was always like, ‘What's wrong with you?,’ ” Cox, 54, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue while discussing her new book Transcendent, available June 9. In the memoir, she details the verbal abuse and neglect she experienced from her mother, Gloria, including being left in an orphanage for a month and being subjected to conversion therapy.
Although Cox initially planned to write the book more than a decade ago, the Orange Is the New Black alum says it took time to fully confront the trauma of her childhood.
“A huge reason I couldn’t write the book in 2014 is that I didn’t feel comfortable saying all of the things that my mother did,” she says. “A lot of it was about trying to protect her. And I was pretending it never happened. I had to grapple with what actually happened and how it made me feel.”
Laverne Cox in an undated childhood photo.
Credit: Courtesy Laverne Cox
Over time, Cox’s relationship with her mother has evolved through forgiveness, perspective and boundaries. “My brother doesn’t talk to my mother, but I’ve moved to a new place with my mom, where I understand that she did the best she could with what she had,” she says. “My mother isn’t a villain. I love her dearly, but I also understand her limitations. I want her in my life, so I try to set healthy boundaries.”
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Cox also recognizes the cycle of generational trauma within her family. “My grandfather was born on a plantation and was beaten as a child, forced to pick cotton, so, of course, he became abusive to my grandmother and his kids,” she says.
“My mother continued the abuse. I’m not having kids, but I do believe my brother and I have both broken that intergenerational cycle of trauma. We understand that we don’t have to be defined by that violence. That is really the journey of healing from trauma.
Laverne Cox and her brother M Lamar in 2024.
Credit: Courtesy Laverne Cox
That healing also extends to Cox’s relationship with herself. “Some days I’m more emotionally raw than others, and some days I’m more resilient than others,” she says. “But the reason to tell these stories is that hopefully someone will read them and feel less alone.”
Cox continues, “I'm responsible for my actions, and I'm responsible for acknowledging the truth of what happened to me so I'm not overly defined by it and can hopefully be of service in the world. There's a little kid still inside all of us, and I have love for her now because I can see her better throughout.”
Transcendent by Laverne Cox comes out on June 9 and is available now for preorder, wherever books are sold.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
