Michaela Jaé Rodriguez became the first transgender actress to win a Golden Globe when she snagged the award for her role as Blanca Evangelista in the FX drama series “Pose.”
A visibly excited Rodriguez went to Instagram Live to share her reaction to the boundary-breaking achievement.
“This is for the LGBTQAI Black, Latina, Asian, the many multi-beautiful colors of the rainbow around the freakin’ world. This is not just for me. This is for y’all. This is the door that opens for y’all,” said the 31-year-old winner for Best Actress in a TV Drama. “There are gonna be so many young individuals. Young, talented, thriving individuals that are going to be able to trail in and storm in through the door.”
A New Jersey native, Rodriguez began acting at age 7. She landed her first big break as drag queen Angel in an Off-Broadway production of Rent. The part helped her discover her trans identity, and led to roles in the television shows “The Carrie Diaries,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “Luke Cage.”
She made her debut as a solo artist with the single “Something To Say” last summer, in the days leading up to the “Pose” series finale.
Predictably, Rodriguez faced an onslaught of transphobia in the wake of her Golden Globe win. The star brushed off the haters on Twitter.
“Hey I just want to say, I’m still on cloud 9. I will say this though. To the people who don’t see me as female or worthy of this award, I don’t care. I will still move how I always have and that’s through LOVE,” tweeted Rodriguez. “The creator themselves put me here, and for that I will continue.”
Rodriguez was the first and only trans person to win an award for “Pose”, despite the show’s widespread critical acclaim throughout its three-season-long run. The series also featured the largest cast of transgender actors in the history of television.
The 79th Golden Globe Awards, which took place on Jan. 9, went untelevised amidst a Hollywood boycott of the awards ceremony. Los Angeles Times broke the scandal last February, revealing that no members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association—the group that determines Golden Globe nominees and winners—were Black. The article also included allegations of shady business dealings.
The HFPA has taken measures to address the backlash, including partnering with the NAACP and recruiting members from diverse backgrounds.
