Welcome to the Laverne Cox Show, a production of Shondaland audio in partnership with IHeart Radio.

It is the single biggest kept secret. It is the straight male's desire for trans women.

And because this happenings in the dark allow the general public to continue assuming that only gay men would like a trans woman,

that this giant misconception is just allowed to continue to fester and we all fall victim to it.

So what's it going to take to change that?

That's the question I always have.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Laverne Cox Show.

Now, I wanted to have a series of conversations about dating and some of its challenges

for very personal reasons.

Finding love has been a really challenging part of my life for my entire adult life.

Part of it is because I'm really picky and I don't feel a genuine connection to a lot of people.

But dating is also challenging for many of us for any number of reasons. But I'm keenly aware that the challenges are different

for black women, for women over 40, and for trans women, all categories I currently inhabit.

So today, I want to focus on the challenges of dating as a trans woman. This is something I

taught to my trans girlfriends about all the time.

But today, I wanted to chat with someone who I know will make me think differently about this,

and hopefully we'll give you a lot to think about as well. Our name is Jen Richards.

Jen is a trans woman, and she's so smart and thoughtful and always makes me think about

various subjects in ways I hadn't before. Jen Richards is an actress, and she's so smart and thoughtful and always makes me think about various subjects in

ways I hadn't before. Jen Richards is an actress, writer, and producer. You might know her from

her Emmy-nominated short series, Her Story, which is absolutely brilliant. You must watch it if you

haven't. She has received critical acclaim for her acting work in the Netflix revival of Tales from the City.

...