KOCHVILLE TOWNSHIP, MI -- Laverne Cox, as a sixth grader dealing with her gender identity and the recent death of her grandmother, "took an entire bottle of pills and swallowed them."
According to a Williams Institute study released in 2014, more than 40 percent of transgender women reported attempting suicide at least once in their lifetime.
Cox, a transgender activist and actress, has come a very long way from that childhood suicide attempt. She long ago came to realize that her life and the lives of those like her are valuable.
The Emmy-nominated actress talked about her journey Tuesday, Feb. 17, to a large, enthusiastic crowd inside Saginaw Valley State University's O'Neill Arena. She was introduced by Delta College professor and fellow transgender activist Char Davenport.
"Trans lives matter," Cox told a nearly full house inside the arena. In response, the students and local community members in attendance exploded with applause.
Many know Cox as the actress who plays Sophia Burset in the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black," but the show was not the main topic of conversation Tuesday night.
Whether it comes to her career as an actress or the fact that she is transgender, Cox said she isn't defined by any one label.
"I'm not just one thing and neither are you," Cox said.
Commanding the stage, wearing a cardinal red dress, Cox directed the statement at the more than 2,200 people in the audience.
Cox is far from one thing. She explained how she was once a bullied child; how she is a sister and a daughter, a lover of dance and public speaking, and a fan of cathartic karaoke sessions.
The label Cox holds that she focused on the most during her hour-long talk was the label of woman. Her talk itself was titled "Ain't I a Woman," borrowing an iconic line from Sojourner Truth.
Cox mentioned a story that is sometimes shared about Truth, in which the civil rights and women's rights activist allegedly revealed her breasts when someone questioned her womanhood during a speech.
"There's a whole history of the policing of black women's gender in this country," Cox said.
She elaborated by discussing the way reality show "Love and Hip Hop Atlanta" cast member Joseline Hernandez circulated nude photos a few years ago, after people started to question her gender.
"As long as we live in a culture where we have to prove our womanhood or our manhood, I believe we are never really going to be living in a free society," Cox said.
The public questioning of a transgender individual's gender is an "act of violence," according to Cox.
When she hears someone question her gender in public, Cox said it immediately makes her feel unsafe.
But, it no longer makes her feel ashamed to get recognized as transgender.
"Transgender is beautiful," Cox said.
Shows like "Orange is the New Black" may have helped lead the way, Cox said, to a culture in which more transgender characters are making their way to the screen.
News was recently released that Cox has secured the role of a transgender attorney in the upcoming CBS pilot "Doubt." Cox said it is one of three major transgender characters that are in the works for television.
The additional attention to transgender individuals is making for a culture in which people are learning the importance of pronouns. Cox said her mother now corrects people when they use an incorrect pronoun to refer to her daughter.
"Pronouns matter," Cox said.
All words matter, Cox pointed out when explaining a very honest discussion she had with a friend who is a gay man living with HIV. She said they both admitted they weren't sure how to speak to each other. Cox was afraid of saying the wrong things to someone living with HIV, and he was afraid of saying the wrong things to a transgender woman.
But the two allowed each other to have an open conversation about those issues, and Cox encouraged Tuesday's audience to do the same.
"Go out and have those difficult conversations across differences with each other," she said. "But create safe space so that you can make mistakes and take risks and be vulnerable. Have those conversations with a lot of love and a lot of empathy.
"Have these conversations towards getting to a better understanding of who the other person is and, ultimately, of who you are."
-- Jessica Shepherd is an entertainment reporter with MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact her at 989-996-0687, email her at jessica_shepherd@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter. You can also hear her Fridays at 8 a.m. on 102.5 WIOG's Nate and Rachel in the Morning.