Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox appeared alongside model Carmen Carrera on Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show, Katie, for a segment which aired Monday about transgender trailblazers.
The show was promoted as a platform for Cox and Carrera to discuss their respective achievements and important issues affecting the transgender community, but quickly turned into an opportunity for Couric to probe the women about their private parts.
Both Cox and Carerra opened up about their transitions, but told Couric that they didn’t want to make the discussion about their genitalia, but rather issues that are really relevant to the trans community.
Cox said that the “preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people and then we don’t get to really deal with real lived experiences; the reality. By focusing on bodies we don’t focus on the lived realities of that oppression and that discrimination.”
Cox continued discussing issues that plaque the trans community including often being the targets of violence, experiencing discrimination on daily basis, and astonishing unemployment rates.
Click here to watch Laverne Cox discuss making TV history as a transgender actress
The breakout star from Orange is The New Black star is currently co-producing a new documentary about the incarceration of a transgender woman of color, CeCe McDonald. McDonald, who is in the midst of a 41 month long prison sentence was incarcerated after defending herself during a violent, transphobic and racist attack that subsequently resulted in the death of one of her attackers.
Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter for more entertainment news at @WitherspoonC