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Laverne Cox has shamed the Republican Party for “harshly exploiting their transphobia” this election season.

The 52-year-old actor rose to fame playing trans prisoner Sophia in the Netflix prison series Orange is the new blackShe has long used her platform to advocate for transgender issues and inclusion.

Published on The Daily Show On Thursday (October 17), Cox took the opportunity to call attention to the disinformation surrounding anti-trans laws and campaigns.

Cox wore purple in honor of Spirit Day – an annual day to combat anti-LGBT bullying on the third Thursday of October – and pointed to the increase in anti-LGBT legislation across the US, listing statistics such as the 25 states , which banned transgender youth. 18-year-olds are denied access to gender-appropriate care.

“Thank you for making sure schools don’t teach about sexual orientation or gender identity, because if you pretend trans kids don’t exist, they disappear, just like if you pretend climate change doesn’t exist… it disappears too!” she said. jokingly, “I guess we’ll never know why my tits sweat in December.”

Cox highlighted that Donald Trump and the Republican Party have spent $65m (£49m) on campaign ads promoting anti-trans rhetoric. One of them targets presidential candidate Kamala Harris for her support for gender-equitable care.

A Trump ad highlights comments the vice president made in 2019 when she said she supported “surgical care” for trans prisoners. The ad shows Harris posing next to Pattie Gonia, a drag queen. The campaign ends with the voiceover: “Kamala is for she/her. President Trump is for you.”

Transgender rights activists said the ads “attack trans people” and only reinforce right-wing anti-LGBT rhetoric.

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Returning to the ads, Cox said, “Do you know how disappointing it is when someone finally spends $65 million on me, just for this crap?” I didn’t want hateful attack ads. I wanted a house in the hills with six walk-in closets!”

Cox then draws the line under the campaign, noting that, unlike the Republican Party, it did not get its facts from StraightOutOfTheirAss.com.

“This is straight out of the bigotry handbook: Using dehumanizing language toward marginalized groups provides a permission structure to attack them, because when people are made less human, you can strip them of their rights (and) commit violence against them with impunity.” “

Cox then poked fun at the ongoing legal battle between North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson and CNN, which reported in September that the Republican had left a litany disturbing comments on a pornography website before he went into politics. Robinson has denied claims that he described himself as a “black Nazi.” and said he enjoys watching trans pornography and is taking legal action against the outlet.

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Cox said: “If you had told me that anti-trans politicians secretly watch – and love – trans porn, I would have said, ‘Phew.’”

“I’m 52 years old and if I had a dime for every conservative man who tried to contact me, I could buy this house in the Hills.”

“Turning us into sex objects is just another way to dehumanize us,” she explained. “And I think it’s time to stop dehumanizing and start rehumanizing each other.”

Cox then showed a map that suggested the top searches for trans porn were all in red states.

“See you,” she concludes. “We see you all. All we ask is that you see us too. And that you pull up your damn pants.”

Cox’s comments come after Republicans in several states cracked down on trans adults’ access to medical treatments such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature banned gender reassignment procedures for those under 18, as well as non-doctors such as nurses who write HRT prescriptions.

Brandon Wolf, a spokesman for the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign (HRC), said. The Guardian: “The MAGA (Make America great again) agenda is characterized by division, chaos and hate.”

“They turn neighbors against each other and seek to divide our communities because they have no vision for how to lift people up or bring the nation together.”