WOMEN WE LOVE: Michaela Jaé Rodriguez

GLAAD, the queer (LGBTQ+) media advocacy organization, will be honoring the award-winning actress, singer, and activist Michaela Jaé (Mj) Rodriguez with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 33rd annual GLADD Media Award in L.A. The ceremony is set for Saturday, April 2 at the Beverly Hilton.

The yearly honor — named after a casting director who devoted his life to raising awareness in the entertainment industry about the discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community and those living with HIV — recognizes queer media professionals who promote acceptance. Previous people who have been honored include Laverne Cox, Jim Parsons, Wanda Sykes, Troye Sivan, Chaz Bono, Sir Ian McKellen, and Melissa Etheridge.

Rodriguez, born January 7th, 1991, is a true American talent, starting her career at age 11 and taking on a groundbreaking role for transgender visibility and representation in television. Rodriguez is a trans Latinx activist and is the recipient of many notable awards, including the Trailblazer Hispanic Heritage Award and Outfest Legacy Award.

Notably, she starred in the FX show "Pose", which had swept general audiences off their feet. She took home the Golden Globe for best actress in a TV drama this year for her role as housemother and nurse Blanca on the show. With that, she made history as the first transgender actress to ever win the award. This was also the first Golden Globe awarded to the TV series, which premiered in 2018. Mj also made history back in Summer 2021 by being the first transgender performer nominated for a lead acting Emmy.

“I do believe this is a pivotal moment. There’s never been a trans woman who has been nominated as a leading outstanding actress, and I feel like that pushes the needle forward so much, for now, the door to be knocked down for so many people — whether they be male or trans female, gender nonconforming, LGBTQIA+, it does not matter,” Rodriguez told Variety. 

After her Emmy nomination, she decided to change the name she goes by from Mj to her full name, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez. She told The Hollywood Reporter, “People have called me Mj ever since I was a child because I got it from Spider-Man, but at this point in my life, becoming a grown woman, I need people to see the person that is behind Mj. I want them to know that there’s more to me than just the characters I play... That was why I am now going by Michaela Jaé. I want people to see who I truly am.”

"Pose" has three full seasons set in the ‘80s and ‘90s and was focused on ballroom culture in New York City. The show’s regulars featured many trans actors. In the fall of 2019, Rodriguez played Audrey, the leading lady in Pasadena Playhouse's production of Little Shop of Horrors, becoming the first transgender woman of color to play the role in a major production. Her castmates included George Salazar as Seymour and Amber Riley as Audrey II.

On June 4, 2021, Rodriguez released her debut single "Something to Say" under the record label Access Records. The song serves as the lead single for her upcoming debut EP.

The multitalented Rodriguez attended multiple performing arts schools and was recognized for her work on an off-Broadway production for Rent, plus she won the 2011 Clive Barns Award ­– which recognizes promising young performers – for the role. She even got herself minor roles in TV shows like "Nurse Jackie", "The Carrie Diaries", and "Luke Cage".

More recently, she appears in Netflix's Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed film tick, tick…BOOM! and is set to appear with Maya Rudolph in the upcoming Apple TV+ series “Loot".

We forward to her future projects and what achievements she makes next. Let’s go, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez!