🙏🏽 MICHAELA JAÉ RODRIGUEZ SET TO RECEIVE HONOR @ GLAADs MEDIA AWARDS 🏆

GLAAD announced on Wednesday that Golden Globe-winning, Emmy-nominated actress and singer Michaela Jaé Rodriguez will be honored with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, April 2, 2022.

The award goes to an LGBTQ+ professional who has made a difference in promoting queer acceptance, according to a press release. It’s named after the legendary casting director who worked during his career to bring awareness to the discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ people and those living with HIV.

Previous Stephen F. Kolzak award winners include Laverne Cox, Jim Parsons, Wanda Sykes, Troye Sivan, Ruby Rose, Chaz Bono, Stephen Warren, Melissa Etheridge, and Sir Ian McKellen.

In its announcement, GLAAD said, “A Black and Latinx trans woman, who with her critical acclaim and visibility alone has moved the needle for acceptance, Rodriguez stands boldly in the many intersections of her identity.”

Rodriguez is best known for her critically acclaimed performance as Blanca Evangelista in FX’s Pose. Portraying the young house mother living with HIV earned Rodriguez a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination. She is the first trans woman to win a Golden Globe and the first to be nominated for an Emmy in a leading or supporting acting category.

Before her time on Pose, Rodriguez worked in theater and in Off-Broadway productions at the New Ohio Theatre, New World Stages, and Encores! Off Center.

The Pose star was named The Advocate’s Person of the Year 2021 for her history-making, trailblazing career.

“Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is an undeniable talent who is changing the way audiences understand trans people while breaking down barriers for the trans community and LGBTQ people of color within the entertainment industry,” said GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “Her performance as Blanca on Pose was one of the most important and impactful roles in the history of LGBTQ representation on television, and she continues to spearhead the future of trans visibility and inclusion in entertainment through her talent on screen, in music, and as a passionate activist.”

Last month, GLAAD announced 246 nominees in 30 categories for the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards. A full list of nominees can be found here.

SOURCE: ADVOCATE

MICHAELA JAÉ RODRIGUEZ MAKES HISTORY AS 1st TRANS GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, The Advocate’s 2021 Person of the Year, made history on Sunday for taking home the Golden Globe for best actress in a TV drama. She’s the first trans actor to ever win a Golden Globe.

Rodriguez’s win came from her portrayal of housemother and nurse Blanca Evangelista on FX’s Pose. The show premiered in 2018 and ended last year.

On Instagram, Rodriguez said the win was a “sickening birthday present!”

“This is the door that is going to open the door for many more young talented individuals. They will see that it is more than possible,” Rodriguez 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!”

She gave recognition to the other nominated actresses, Uzo Aduba, Jennifer Aniston, Christine Baranski, and Elisabeth Moss.

“To the nominees we are Queens. I’m so happy to share space with you! Each and every last one of you women are phenomenal,” Rodriguez wrote.

The newly awarded star also went on Instagram Live to give an acceptance speech.

Rodriguez made history last summer for becoming the first trans actor to be nominated for a lead acting Emmy, though she didn’t win the award. Rodriguez told The Advocate that even though her name wasn’t called, it still meant something to be on the red carpet and to be with her acting peers.

“It felt great to just walk that red carpet and have the conversations and interviews that I had and just being able to sit at that table,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve always wanted a seat at the table. I’ve always wanted to be someone who was in the space to be a part of the conversation, to be a leading force in the conversation, or to start it. And me being able to even have that nomination shows that I am willing and capable of it, you know?”

“The most important thing that I’m excited for, honestly, is people seeing me in a new light when it comes to my craft, seeing that I’m versatile and capable of doing many different types of characters,” she said.

Other queer wins at the Golden Globes include out actor Ariana DeBose for her performance in the film West Side Story. The Power of the Dog also won several awards. The queer-alluded film won Best Motion Picture, Drama; Best Director, Motion Picture; and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture for Kodi Smit-McPhee.

SOURCE: ADVOCATE

'POSE'S MJ RODRIGUEZ MAKES HISTORY WITH BEST ACTRESS EMMY NOM

It's tens across the board for MJ Rodriguez!

The actress and singer, who plays Mother Blanca Evangelista on FX's groundbreaking series Pose is finally getting some much-deserved recognition from the Emmy Awards! Rodriguez made history today when she became the first trans actor to be nominated in the Lead Actor or Actress categories.

Previously, the show and cisgender star Billy Porter had scored nominations and a win, but the trans actors on the show had been shut out. Porter became the first Black gay man to win an acting Emmy in 2019. Many had been calling for award shows to give some recognition to its trans stars, and finally, we’ve been listened to.

Rodriguez becomes the third out trans actor to be nominated for an acting Emmy. Last year, actress and filmmaker Rain Valdez received a nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for Razor Tongue. 

Previously, Laverne Cox made history when she was the first-ever out trans actor nominated for an Emmy when she got a nod for playing trans inmate Sophia Burset in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. Cox was also nominated again in 2017, and won a Daytime Emmy as an executive producer of the documentary Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word.

Other previous trans nominees include Chaz Bono for producing the documentary Becoming Chaz in 2011, and Joanna Fang, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming for the documentary Cartel Land. In 2016, the web series Her Story, starring Jen Richards and Angelica Ross and co-executive produced by Richards was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.

Writers Janet Mock and Our Lady J also scored Emmy noms this year in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category. The two trans writers are nominated alongside Ryan Murphy, Steven Canals, and Brad Falchuk for writing the series finale.

Pose has also scored nominations this year in the Outstanding Drama category, Outstanding Lead Actor for Billy Porter, and Best Director for Canals for the series finale.

Rodriguez is joined in the category by Uzo Aduba, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Moss, Jurnee Smollett, and another queer actress, Emma Corrin.

We’ll have to wait until Sunday, September 19 on CBS to find out who wins.

SOURCE: OUT DOT COM