Michaela Jaé “MJ”Rodriguez was the first transgender actor ever to win a Golden Globe Sunday during the ceremonies that lasted 79 years.
Rodriguez, who turns 31 this Friday, won the award for best TV drama actress for Blanca on FX. “Pose”This ended after three seasons in June.
It was also first Golden Globe. “Pose,”It premiered in 2018 NBC News reported.
The Golden Globes were not broadcast and no stars were present at the ceremony. Winners were announced online.
Rodriguez used Instagram to give her acceptance speech.
“They will see that it is more than possible,”She wrote. “They will see that a young Black Latina girl from Newark New Jersey who had a dream, to change the minds others would WITH LOVE. LOVE WINS. To my young LGBTQAI babies WE ARE HERE the door is now open now reach the stars!!!!!”
Rodriguez was also filmed on Instagram Live giving an emotional speech. NPR.
“This is for the LGBTQAI, Black, Latina, Asian, the many multi beautiful colors of the rainbow around the freaking world. This not just for me, this is for y’all,”She said. “There are going to be so many young individuals — young, talented thriving individuals — that are going to be able to trail in and storm in through the door. This is for y’all.”
It is not the first time Rodriguez made history at an award show. Last year, she was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a drama series at the Emmys, she became the first trans woman to be nominated in the category. Ultimately, she lost to Olivia Coleman for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown.”
“Pose,” which ran for three seasons, was a groundbreaking and game-changing series that examined LGBTQ+ life through the underground ballroom scene of New York City in the 1980s and into the 1990s. The show included the highest number of transgender actors ever cast for a scripted show and had the most recurring LGBTQ+ actors, according to NBC News.
At the heart of the series was family and the chosen support system the characters had, which advocates and fans have said echoes some real-life circumstances some LGBTQ+ youth and people of color have faced.
“Pose” co-creator, executive producer and director Steven Canals told Inside Edition Digital in June 2021 that the show took some time and convincing to get off the ground.
Canals was working on his MFA at UCLA in 2013 when he “did an assessment of the television landscape at the end of 2013. And at that time television was being dominated by straight white cis-gendered male antiheroes. “‘Breaking Bad’, ‘Mad Men’, ‘House Of Cards’, ‘Game Of Thrones’ were all great shows but I was not seeing people who looked like myself.” he said.
“”There weren’t any trans people, regardless if they were of race or ethnicity. They didn’t populate airwaves in any significant manner,” he stated.
Canals started to create a show he would enjoy watching. While it took Canals two-and a half years for the show’s greenlight to go on air, he never imagined that the show would receive such overwhelming support from its fans.
Calling it a “humbling” experience, Canals is often stopped in restaurants, grocery stores and on the street by fans. Many thanked him for his efforts and expressed gratitude for how the show had changed their lives.