It's tens across the board for Mj Rodriguez!
The actress and singer, who plays Mother Blanca Evangelista on FX's groundbreaking series Pose is finally getting some much-deserved recognition from the Emmy Awards! Rodriguez made history today when she became the first trans actor to be nominated in the Lead Actor or Actress categories.
Previously, the show and cisgender star Billy Porter had scored nominations and a win, but the trans actors on the show had been shut out. Porter became the first Black gay man to win an acting Emmy in 2019. Many had been calling for award shows to give some recognition to its trans stars, and finally, we’ve been listened to.
Rodriguez becomes the third out trans actor to be nominated for an acting Emmy. Last year, actress and filmmaker Rain Valdez received a nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for Razor Tongue.
Previously, Laverne Cox made history when she was the first-ever out trans actor nominated for an Emmy when she got a nod for playing trans inmate Sophia Burset in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. Cox was also nominated again in 2017, and won a Daytime Emmy as an executive producer of the documentary Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word.
Other previous trans nominees include Chaz Bono for producing the documentary Becoming Chaz in 2011, and Joanna Fang, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming for the documentary Cartel Land. In 2016, the web series Her Story, starring Jen Richards and Angelica Ross and co-executive produced by Richards was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.
Writers Janet Mock and Our Lady J also scored Emmy noms this year in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category. The two trans writers are nominated alongside Ryan Murphy, Steven Canals, and Brad Falchuk for writing the series finale.
Pose has also scored nominations this year in the Outstanding Drama category, Outstanding Lead Actor for Billy Porter, and Best Director for Canals for the series finale.
Rodriguez is joined in the category by Uzo Aduba, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Moss, Jurnee Smollett, and another queer actress, Emma Corrin.
We’ll have to wait until Sunday, September 19 on CBS to find out who wins.
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