On Sunday, January 9, Mj Rodriguez won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series, Drama. With her victory, Rodriguez beat Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show), Uzo Aduba (In Treatment), Elizabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Christine Baranski (The Good Fight). On Pose, the series from Ryan Murphy that follows New York’s underground LGBTQ+ ball culture, Mj Rodriguez played Blanca.
“OMG OMGGG!!!! @goldenglobes Wow! You talking about sickening birthday present!” Rodriguez wrote on Instagram after her win. “Thank you! This is the door that is going to Open the door for many more young talented individuals. They will see that it is more than possible. 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!!!!! @goldenglobes…To the nominees we are Queens. I’m so happy to share space with you! Each and every last one of you women are phenomenal.”
Last year Mj Rodriguez also made history as the first trans person nominated for an Emmy in a major acting category. Rodriguez lost the award to Olivia Colman, who won for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II on Netflix’s The Crown.
If you don’t remember, the Globes garnered criticism after the Los Angeles Times released a report in February 2021 that revealed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the Globes’s governing body) had no Black members. The L.A. Times also reported on what it calls alleged “financial and ethical lapses” within the HFPA.
The HFPA has attempted to rehabilitate itself by adding 21 new members (six of them Black), hiring a new chief diversity officer, and changing its bylaws.