MJ Rodriguez Becomes The First Trans Actress To Win A Golden Globe
by Chavi Jain | January 11, 2022, 16:48 IST
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, aka, MJ Rodriguez. aka, a revolution. She creates history by becoming the first transgender woman to scale the renowned Golden Globe Awards! The actress won the prestigious award for her portrayal of Blanca Evangelista in the popular FX show, 'Pose'. While the 79th Golden Globes featured scaled-back celebrations due to an alleged boycott by the film industry due to their lack of diversity among other issues, it was a big night for some of the big names and the underdogs. While this is Rodriguez's third award for her character, Blanca, this is the first time that a trans woman of colour has achieved an honour at the Golden Globes.
The road to this has not been easy for the actress either. Growing up, Rodriguez never identified herself as a boy. She was a boisterous kid who was named "different" and "weird" by her peers. It broke her, but she always knew she had something special, something she could offer, which indeed, was her craft. She always loved being on the stage and knew she was a performer. So, at the young age of eleven, she started trailing her dream of being one and found herself a place at the reputed New Jersey Performing Arts Center. When she was fourteen years old, in 2005, the sensational Broadway musical "Rent" was released in theatres as a film. The story spotlights Angel, a Brobdingnagian Latinx Drag Queen. The young teenager told her father, "Daddy, that's me. I wanna play her." It was the first supportive nudge of her dad that carved comfort for the girl (yes, we're taking some parenting notes). "In due time," he supportively said. It validated Rodriguez beyond anything. She had her mom's full support just as well! Having her family's support, MJ nurtured her feminine thoroughly, privately. She continued presenting herself as a male.
The teenager was introduced to 'Ball Culture,' which is an underground African American & Latin American LGBTQ+ competitive dance scenario found in the 1920s, that became famous for inventing voguing. She was welcomed and comforted as her exact self publicly for the first time. After high school, Rodriguez made it to the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston. During her first semester at college, she returned to her younger dream by fetching the role of Angel in an off-Broadway revival of "Rent." Her role empowered her to let herself be and not hide away her identity and spirit.
So in 2006, MJ told her agents she will no longer be auditioning for male roles. After getting some trifling roles on Nurse Jackie and The Carrie Diaries, she enacted her first female character in Luke Cage! Although a milestone, she never gave up on her dream - to someday be cast in the leading female role. One random day, her sisters prompted her to audition for this new show coming up called "Pose." She pounced on the opportunity and went in for the audition the very next day and bagged the role she was born for - Blanca, a surrogate mother figure to a bunch of queer youth. This show went on to have the largest transgender cast on television. Ever. MJ gained great fame and popularity for this role of hers and laddered on. She has gone on to win "The Best Actress in a TV Drama" Golden Globe Award for the same! This has put her on the world map and she has set foot as a trailblazer for the tribe she represents! And proudly so!
MJ Rodriguez MJ Golden Globe Awards Golden Globe Awards 2021 LGBTQ LGBTQIA+ queer queer community Blanca Angel Tv drama TV Show Queer Shows transwoman transgender trans