⁠“I always challenged him with love and empathy” — Laverne Cox addresses backlash over her “blond-haired, blue-eyed MAGA Republican” ex-boyfriend

Laverne Cox addressing the backlash for the time she dated a “blond-haired, blue-eyed MAGA Republican.”

In a teaser for her forthcoming show, Gurrl, How Did I Get Here, Laverne Cox got candid about her ex-boyfriend, noting that he's a cop for the NYPD and was 22 years her junior. They dated for almost four years, she said.

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"My ex-boyfriend, when we met five years ago, at the height of the pandemic, he was 26. I was 48," she said. "He is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed MAGA Republican voter who is a New York City police officer. We were madly in love. I did not develop any of these politics. I still have my own," she added, referring to him as "hot."

However, the internet was quick to react, as users flocked to social media to slam Cox, who has long been a vocal critic of President Trump. Some even called her hypocritical for allegedly supporting an administration that was "immoral."

However, Cox has since defended herself, as seen in a new video:

“I never adapted any of my ex’s politics,” she said in the 50-minute clip. “I always challenged him with love and empathy and tried to listen to his perspectives, often corrected him with facts, and I wanted to see if it possible to have a relationship with someone with different political beliefs in theory.”

She also warned her followers against “dehumanizing” those with differing political inclinations, noting,

"Dehumanizing anyone is not consistent with my values. Fascism is not consistent with my values. I am an anti-fascist. I never adapted any of my exes' politics. I always challenged him with love and empathy… often corrected him with facts, and I wanted to see if it was possible to have a relationship with someone who had different political beliefs." She added, “I think, with this current administration, lines certainly have to be drawn, because we’re fighting for our lives in a different way than we were five years ago.” “Everything Trump is doing, I’m against,” she said.

Laverne Cox reveals more on her break-up

Laverne Cox's one-woman show is scheduled for July 28 at City Winery in New York City. In her follow-up video shared on Instagram on Tuesday, she said of her former boyfriend:

"He has a beautiful soul and has really beautiful qualities." She went on, "I fell in love with someone who voted for a fascist regime... But he was complicated, and he fell in love with me. And neither of us expected that to happen." She added, "This dude was dating me; he was in love with me. He didn't want to erase me," noting that "the good things about the relationship were so good that I was willing to work with the politics that I don't agree with."

As reported by Buzzfeed, following Trump's reelection, Laverne Cox was the one to give the keynote speech at the LA "Trans Liberation Now!" rally, where she said,

"The real enemy is not actually trans people. The real enemy's not migrants, or poor people, or homeless people, or any other scapegoat that they claim. The enemy clearly is the plutocrats, the oligarchs, the billionaires and corporations who create these issues to divide working-class people."

Laverne Cox also clarified that she had been an independent for almost all of her life, but in 2020, she registered as a Democrat so that she could vote for Bernie Sanders. Last year, she publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the Presidency.

In her new video, the Clean Slate actress reiterated that she had never voted for Trump herself.

She also revealed that she broke up with her boyfriend just last year, as the election drew closer, because it "became more difficult to be magnanimous with him."

Laverne Cox's video caught the attention of several RuPaul's Drag Race stars like Mo Heart, Jaida Essence Hall, and Coco Montrese, all of whom voiced their disapproval online.

As for President Trump, since his re-election, he has made several attempts to revoke certain rights of the trans community, including banning them from serving in the military. He has also reportedly threatened to pull the federal funding that allows healthcare workers to give gender-affirming care to minors. This year, approximately 120 anti-trans bills have been passed, while 647 have failed.

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more.

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