Mj Rodrigez was born to Pose.
The actress’ performance in the FX drama not only helped introduce a modern audience to queer ballroom culture of the 80’s and 90’s, but shined a groundbreaking spotlight on the struggles that Black trans women face even today.
After three seasons at the helm of House of Evangelista, the Television Academy finally crowned Mj with a long overdue Emmy nomination. In fact, she’s making history as the first trans woman to be recognized in a lead acting category.
From Mj’s perspective, the acknowledgement is “finally opening the doors and showing how we exist in the world.” She explained on E!’s Daily Pop, “This gives a broader skew of who we are as human beings and shows us that we’re human more than anything.”
And while the performer is lauded for blazing trails within the LGBTQ+ community, she also knows a thing or two about turning it out on the red carpet.