Laverne Cox

It did come, like, a couple years ago, and it was, I think, right after 2023, it became very clear to me that we, that trans people had lost the culture, and that, I think, half the country had banned gender-affirming care for young people.

I knew, and...

layman's parlance that we were screwed as trans people.

I knew this was the beginning of a disaster in terms of policy, in terms of stigma, scapegoating, and the dehumanization was so clear to me.

And so I think I also thought, like, maybe one more human story out there can help.

Mobile, it's interesting.

I go back now and I find it quaint and way too hot in the summer.

But like the azaleas, there's lots of beautiful things about it.

And there are all these antebellum homes that still exist on like Government Street.

And there's something quaint about parts of it.

And there's just a lot of trauma, though, literally on the streets, particularly in the old neighborhood where my mom still lives.

There's trauma on those streets for me.

We would call it down the bay.

Down the bay.

And it's where most of the black people in Mobile live.

And yeah, and it's downtown.

It's downtown Mobile, which I think is fantastic.

But because Bienville Square and like the Mardi Gras parades, Mardi Gras started in Mobile in this country, not in New Orleans, as some people might think.

And so the Mardi Gras parades happen downtown.

And I love it.