Transgender actress, Laverne Cox, recognised with her own Barbie doll

Beloved toy brand Mattel have celebrated the LGBTQ advocate’s contribution to the queer community with a new Barbie doll made to her likeness.

Actress and LGBTQ activist Laverne Cox has been honoured with her own Barbie doll ahead of her fiftieth birthday.

On Wednesday, toy maker Mattel announced that it was launching a Barbie resembling the Orange Is the New Black star – the first time the doll creator has created a transgender Barbie.

“It’s been a dream for years to work with Barbie to create my own doll,” Cox said in a statement. “I can’t wait for fans to find my doll on shelves and have the opportunity to add a Barbie doll modelled after a transgender person to their collection.”

Mattel has created a Barbie doll in Laverne Cox’s likeness. Picture: Jason Mendez/Getty Images

Mattel collaborated closely with the fierce advocate for the queer community to ensure that the Barbie mirrored her as much as possible.

“I was like, ’Can we make her look more like me? And more African American?’” Cox explained. “And we had a conversation about highlights and lowlights because I’m blonde most of the time now, but I’m a Black girl, so I need a dark root. And we had a whole conversation about how they can’t do that, but they could do dark low lights.”

The Barbie wears a silver metallic catsuit under a red tulle gown which Cox came up with herself as an economical way for children to have more choices to play with.

The Barbie comes with two outfits. Pictures: Mattel

“I wanted her to wear multiple outfits, but that wasn’t cost effective. You want the doll to be affordable. So I was like, ‘What if she had one outfit that could peel off and become multiple outfits?’” Cox told People. “So that’s what we designed and came up with.”

The release of the doll was especially moving for Cox, whose mother did not allow her to own a Barbie during her childhood as she was “assigned male at birth”.

“When I was in my 30s, I was in therapy and telling my therapist that I was denied the opportunity to play with Barbie dolls,” Cox said.

“And my therapist said, ‘It’s never too late to have a happy childhood, and what you should do for your inner child is go out and buy yourself a Barbie doll.’

“I played with my Barbie, and I told my mum what my therapist had said. And that first Christmas after that, my mom sent me a Barbie doll. And she’s been sending me Barbies for Christmas and for my birthday.”

Laverne Cox was not allowed to have a Barbie doll during her childhood. Picture: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

It is Cox’s hope the Barbie reminds kids to ‘dream big’ and that their gender identities do not define them.

“I think in an environment where trans children have been used as a political football, when over 250 pieces of anti-trans legislation have been introduced in state legislatures all over the country in 2022 alone, and access to gender-affirming healthcare has been denied by policies signed into law in my home state of Alabama, in Arkansas and other states … That in this environment where trans kids are being attacked, that this can also be a celebration of transness, and also a space for them to dream, understand and be reminded that trans is beautiful,” Cox told People.

“That there’s hope and possibility for them to be themselves.”

The Barbie doll modelled on Cox is a part of the Tribute Collection which also features Zendaya, Ashley Graham, The Queen and Lucille Ball.

The release of the Laverne Cox Barbie doll comes after a petition by fans in 2018 for a Barbie in Cox’s likeness to be added to the Tribute Collection.