First Trans Actress To Win A Golden Globe Is From Newark – Patch.com

NEWARK, NJ — A New Jersey native earned a milestone Golden Globe Award on Sunday, becoming the first openly transgender person to win one of the prestigious awards.

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, who grew up in Newark, won the 2022 award for “Best Television Actress – Drama Series” for her role in “Pose.” The show spotlights the legends, icons and “ferocious house mothers” of New York’s underground ball culture, a movement that first gained notice in the late 1980s. It features the largest recurring cast of LGBTQ actors ever for a scripted series.

Other nominees included Uzo Aduba (“In Treatment”), Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”), Christine Baranski (“The Good Fight”) and Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale).

Here’s what the Golden Globe Awards had to say about Rodriguez, who grew up in Essex County:

“Rodriguez was born in Newark, New Jersey, to an African American mother and a father of half Puerto Rican and half African American descent. Growing up in Newark, she caught the acting bug at age seven and became dedicated to pursuing the profession after her mother enrolled her in the New Jersey Youth Theater program at the age of 11, where she remained involved for seven years. Rodriguez attended several performing arts schools in her youth and was finally cast as Angel in a theater production of ‘Rent,’ winning the 2011 Clive Barnes Award for her performance. TV appearances followed in ‘Nurse Jackie’ (2011), ‘The Carrie Diaries’ (2013), ‘Dear Pauline’ (2014) and the Marvel Netflix show ‘Luke Cage’ (2016). Rodriguez earned a Tribeca Film Festival Best Actress nomination for her supporting role in the 2017 film ‘Saturday Church’ and also appeared in off-Broadway productions including ‘Runaways’ and ‘Street Children.’ She became part of the largest transgender cast ever to appear in a scripted TV series when she joined the series ‘Pose’ as sassy house mother, Blanca Evangelista.”

Rodriguez posted a glowing message on social media about her unprecedented Golden Globe win, saying that it will “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!”

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A graduate of Arts High School in Newark, Rodriguez has been active with community-building efforts in her home city. Prior to the pandemic, in support of National Bully Prevention Month, she paid a visit to 3rd Space, a co-working center on Lafayette Street, where she spoke to an audience that included students from her old alma mater.

Speaking with award-winning author Aliya King, Rodriguez spoke about growing up in Newark, recalling how her mother’s love helped her to remain authentic.

“People who are artistic, they call us everything in the book,” she told her audience, giving a nod to her early days doing youth theater. “But we’re the ones who are making things happen, especially kids of color.”

Art eventually helped to give Rodriguez a platform that she’s used to advocate for social justice issues.

Social media has been lighting up with posts cheering Rodriguez. Seen online:

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