Jackie Rehwald

JREHWALD@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Laverne Cox, transgender advocate and actress who currently appears as Sophia Burset in the Netflix original series "Orange is the New Black," will speak at Missouri State University next month.

Cox is the first transgender woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show, according to the MSU website. Time magazine named Cox the fourth-most influential fictional character of 2013.

She is a transgender advocate who is passionate about telling stories that reflect the transgender experience and the history of nonfiction transgender representation in mainstream media, according to the MSU website.

Want to go

• When: 7-8:30 p.m. Jan. 20, 2015

• Where: Plaster Student Union, Robert W. Theater, 901 S. National Ave.

• Admission: Free to the public