Transgender male-to-female actor Michaela Jaé (“MJ”) Rodriguez received a standing ovation at the 80th Golden Globe Awards on Sunday in belated recognition for winning the Golden Globe for lead actress in a drama series last year for FX’s Pose.
MJ Rodriguez was recognized by her Pose producer Ryan Murphy during his acceptance speech for the Carol Burnett Award. In his speech, Murphy praised Rodriguez for “making history” for being the “first transgender actress ever to win a Golden Globe.”
“Let’s give her the ovation she deserves to hear,” Murphy said.
As Breitbart News reported, Rodriguez’s win at last year’s (non-televised) ceremony deprived several real women of the award. The other nominees were Christine Baranski, Elisabeth Moss, Jennifer Aniston, and Uzo Aduba.
Rodriguez landed on the cover of Entertainment Weekly‘s Pride issue last year, with the quote “My job is to show them how much of a woman I am.”
The actor’s first major role was playing the character Angel, a male drag performer, in an off-Broadway production of Rent in 2011. The actor reportedly still identified as male while performing in the musical and began transitioning shortly thereafter.
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