Actress Laverne Cox has inspired Madame Tussauds to create its first transgender wax figure.
The model of the actress, best known for portraying Sophia Burset on the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black," will be unveiled at a June 26 press conference for the 2015 San Francisco Pride Celebration and will later go on display at Madame Tussauds' San Francisco location at Fisherman's Wharf.
"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," Cox, 31, said in a statement. "I hope that this will be a source of inspiration for every one [sic] who encounters it to believe that their dreams matter and are possible."
Following Caitlyn Jenner's recent public debut on the cover of Vanity Fair, Cox wrote a moving essay about what the cover means for the LGBTQ community and published it via her Tumblr blog.
Recalling one of her own groundbreaking experiences, she wrote:
"On May 29, 2014, the issue of Time magazine magazine which proclaimed the 'Transgender Tipping Point' was revealed with me on the cover. June 1, 2015 a year and 3 days later, Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover was revealed proclaiming #CallMeCaitlyn. I am so moved by all the love and support Caitlyn is receiving. It feels like a new day, indeed, when a trans person can present her authentic self to the world for the first time and be celebrated for it so universally.
Madame Tussauds' Bay Area outpost has recently taken to immortalizing Silicon Valley tech luminaries in wax. Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg were first. Steve Wozniak is up next.
