Over the past year, transgender stars have broken ground in ways America has never seen before. And few others have become bigger than transgender actress Laverne Cox, who has risen to fame for both her role on “Orange Is the New Black” and her outspokeness when it comes to transgender equality. However, despite her undeniable fame, Cox was noticeably absent from TIME’s latest “100 Most Influential People” list and now fans are frying foul.
According to NewNowNext, the “Most Influential People” list has a public-voting period that allows readers to have a say in who makes the list. But even though Cox was the fifth-highest approved celeb by readers, with 91.5 percent approval and 85, 000 votes, the magazine still left her off the list.
As Buzzfeed notes, Cox even garnered more votes than Rihanna and Beyoncé, who graced the cover of the magazine.
Besides getting an outpouring of criticism and disapproval from fans, TIME was also slammed by one of its own writers for not including Cox.
“Laverne Cox is the most visible trans person of color in the world and she has helped millions of people to learn about trans people and the discrimination they face. I think Laverne Cox is one of the most important and influential people in the world and should’ve been included in the TIME 100,” wrote writer John Green.
Although Cox’s absence from the list saddened many, she herself seems to be fine with simply being a fan favorite.
Even more shocking is that Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o was excluded from the list as well. Clearly, TIME’s standards are way off the mark. –nicholas robinson
