Laverne Cox will be the first transgender Madame Tussauds model

Los Angeles - Laverne Cox will be the first ever transgender person to have a wax model at Madame Tussauds.

The Orange Is The New Black star will have her life size figure unveiled during Pride Weekend in San Francisco on 26 June and hopes having her statue in the world famous museum will be an "inspiration" to people going through what she has experienced as a black transgender person.

The 31-year-old star told American TV show Extra: "I hope that this will be a source of inspiration for everyone who encounters it to believe that there dreams matter and are possible.

"I am so deeply honoured to have been asked to be part of the Madame Tussauds legacy. When I think about being who I am, a black trans woman from a working class background raised in Mobile, Alabama, this honour feels even more improbable and extraordinary."

Laverne is delighted with the way American society now seems to be accepting of transgender individuals but she still considers every person who comes forward to tell their gender story very "courageous".

She said: "I think it's always powerful when another transgender person comes forward and speaks the truth of their experience authentically and lives visibly is revolutionary in a world that tells us we shouldn't exist.

"I believe it's deeply courageous."