The lovely Laverne Cox covers the new Entertainment Weekly, just in time for the release of the third season of Orange is the New Black. Season three of OITNB was posted to Netflix last night, a full six hours ahead of a schedule. There are surely people who are at least halfway through the 14 episodes already. Laverne tells us we’re supposed to call it a “marathon,” not a “binge”. It’s as if sitting down watching a season’s worth of television at a stretch becomes an epic accomplishment instead of something we should be ashamed of. “I marathoned the hell out of that pint of Ben and Jerry’s last night.” (Bedhead will cover OITNB over the coming weeks, when more of you have had a chance to watch it.)

EW got a lot of quotes from Laverne on Caitlyn Jenner. Laverne thinks that it must be difficult to transition in the public eye, which is basically what she said when I saw her on her “Ain’t I a Woman” college tour. She also told us not to focus on the surgical or physical aspects of transgender people, as the media has done to Caitlyn nee Bruce. Here’s the teaser article from EW, with more in the print edition:

Cox wrote an thoughtful article on Tumblr, praising Jenner for being so open, but pleading with the media to stop focusing on Jenner’s good looks—and especially to stop focusing on whether or not she was going to have gender-reassignement surgery.

“Can we get past the surgery questions now?” Cox wonders. “I chose not to write about that because it’s really complicated. But what I do know is that, at this moment, Caitlyn’s narrative is about transitioning. And obviously she’s just at the beginning stages of her womanhood…the pickup it’s gotten and her visibility has been unprecedented.”

Cox praises Jenner for handling the constant scrutiny with such grace—and also admires how forthcoming Jenner is being. “Her authenticity, her vulnerability is beautiful. Her love of her family is so beautiful,” Cox says. “Caitlyn is dynamic, and has a sense of purpose and vision.” But she also adds she’s happy she didn’t have the same attention heaped on her during her own transition.

“This is why I’m so grateful that I had the luxury of transitioning in private,” Cox says. “Because when you transition in the public eye, the transition becomes the story. I’m always disturbed when I see conversations about trans people that focus on surgery. But I believe Caitlyn will transcend this moment.”

[From EW]

Caitlyn is transcending this moment, in part, with tons of publicity and cash. I’m not saying she shouldn’t go that route if that’s what she chooses, just that she’s marketing the hell out of this. For many transgender people, transitioning in public would be awful, but I get the impression that Caitlyn is enjoying it, which is how it should be.

Laverne also had the honor of being named the first transgender person to get a wax figure at Madame Tussauds. Her statue will premiere in San Francisco later this month as part of Pride Weekend. Laverne said, in part, “When I think about being who I am, a black trans woman from a working class background raised in Mobile, Alabama, this honor feels even more improbable and extraordinary.”

Laverne Cox and Selenis Leyva are shown at Orangecon on 6-11. Laverne is also shown at the GLAAD media awards on 5-10-15. Credit: WENN.com and EW