10 NEWS People
Cox’s struggle with self-loathing
For Laverne Cox, being the most famous trans
actor in the world is a responsibility and a bur-
den, said Eva Wiseman in The Guardian (U.K.).
In interview after interview, she’s asked to revisit
traumatic experiences, such as the time when she
was 8 years old in Alabama and a teacher called
Cox’s mother to warn, “If you don’t get your son
into therapy right away, he’s going to end up in
New Orleans wearing a dress.” Or how, at 11, Cox attempted sui-
cide, or how, just last November, Cox was attacked while walking
through a Los Angeles park with a male friend. She’s often asked to
weigh in when something horrible happens to another trans person,
which is tragically frequent. Since 2013, more than 130 transgender
and nonbinary people have been killed in the U.S. One month in
2014, Cox had more than 20 speaking engagements; that was the
year she burned out. “The level of responsibility I feel as a public
figure has evolved,” says Cox, 48. “Now I know to put the oxygen
mask on myself first before I assist others.” Although she’s a beacon
of self-confidence for trans people, Cox says, this past year, “I’ve
caught myself saying the most atrocious things to myself. It comes
from a shameful place. I think perfectionism will keep me from
being judged, or harmed. But, unfortunately, me being visible is not
keeping trans people from being murdered. So, I need to be gentler.”
A Capitol officer on the front line
Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn fought for his life on Jan. 6, said
Luke Broadwater in The New York Times. A 6-foot-7, muscular
black man, Dunn has policed many protests during his 13 years
with the force. But the storming of the Capitol was anything but
a protest, he says. It was “a war.” As the riot began, Dunn, 37,
stood on the inaugural platform with his rifle pointed at the crowd.
“They’re throwing smoke bombs. These were terrorists. I’m think-
ing, ‘How long is it before I get shot?’” As the crowd broke through
police lines, Dunn battled insurrectionists hand to hand. “By the
end, I had blood on my knuckles and swelling.” Inside the Capitol,
Dunn had to defend a stairwell that led to an area holding wounded
officers. “There’s people everywhere. They’re saying, ‘Trump is our
rightful president. Nobody voted for Joe Biden.’ I said, ‘I voted for
Biden. My vote doesn’t matter?’ A woman responded, ‘This [slur]
voted for Joe Biden!’ Everybody started joining in. ‘Hey, [slur]!’”
After FBI reinforcements arrived, Dunn and other officers met in
the Rotunda, collapsing in fatigue. “I said to my buddy, ‘I got called
[slur] a couple dozen times today.’ He’s got blood on him. That’s
when I said, ‘Is this America?’ and I started crying.”
David Lynch might be the most industrious man in Hollywood, said
Howard Fishman in The New Yorker. Though best known as the co-
creator of the cult TV series Twin Peaks, and the director of surreal
and often terrifying films, Lynch has quietly assembled a far larger
body of work over the past half-century. He’s recorded albums,
drawn a long-running comic strip (The Angriest Dog in the World),
designed furniture, painted, and created what he calls “kits”—
disassembled animal carcasses that people can put back together
using Lynch’s instructions. He says he has been living a “farmer’s
life” during the pandemic. “This morning, I woke up at 3:04. Then
I have my coffee and take a few smokes out on the deck” before
practicing Transcendental Meditation for 20 minutes—a tradition
he’s maintained twice a day for 47 years. Next, he shoots a daily
YouTube weather report from his Los Angeles home, before moving
on to his latest project, whatever that may be. Recently, he designed
a urinal that swings out from under the sink in his studio. Lynch
can’t imagine ever breaking his daily routine. “If you have a habit
pattern, the more conscious part of your mind can concentrate on
your work, and the rest takes care of itself in the background.”Getty
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ramLynch’s key to creativity
QLady Gaga’s two stolen French bulldogs
were found tied to a pole in a Los Angeles
alley last week, miles from where two men
shot Gaga’s dog walker and grabbed the
dogs, Koji and Gustav. The pop star, 34,
was in Italy at the time of the robbery and
offered a $500,000 reward
for the return of her
bulldogs; it was
unclear whether the
woman who found
them would
collect. Gaga’s
walker, Ryan
Fischer, 30, was
strolling with the
dogs when themen jumped out of a car and shouted, “Give
it up!” When Fischer resisted and clung to
Gaga’s third dog, Miss Asia, the unknown
attackers shot him in the chest. Fischer is ex-
pected to recover; he thanked Gaga and said
he looked forward to getting “bombarded
with kisses and licks (and maybe even
an excitement pee?) from Asia, Koji, and
Gustav.” Earlier, Gaga sent a message to
Fischer, saying, “You’re forever a hero.”
QAt least 11 men are accusing fashion
designer Alexander Wang of sexual miscon-
duct between 2010 and 2019. High-profile
attorney Lisa Bloom says she’s representing
11 men with accusations against Wang, the
former Balenciaga creative director who
called the allegations “baseless and gro-
tesquely false.” A 12th man, design student
Keaton Bullen, 21, told BBC News last weekthat in 2019 he was dancing with Wang
at a Manhattan club. “All of a sudden he
unzipped my trousers, put his hands in my
pants, and started grabbing my penis in front
of a bunch of people,” Bullen said. Stylist
David Casavant says Wang, 37, pulled down
his pants at a Brooklyn club in 2017.
QRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) won a
House seat last year with the slogan “People
over politicians,” but the conspiracy theorist
spent $717 in campaign funds on a dinner at
the ritzy Trump International Hotel steak-
house, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
reported last week. Greene, 46, also swiped
the campaign card for a $653 dinner at
Washington’s Capital Grille, and spent $
of campaign funds to join the Capitol Hill
Club, an elite Republican club favored by
lobbyists and Capitol Hill staffers.