Mj Rodriguez

I had always known I was female, since I was 7 years old.

There were moments where I was called many derogatory names. I've gotten into a couple of fights. People have jumped me. You know, I've had a lot of things that have happened to me, but I look past those things now.

When it comes to my career, I'm an actress before I'm trans. I think people should see the talent first.

The ball scene was never really only gay people. I think people have this notion that if there's a man hanging around a gay man, he must be gay, but that's just stigma. Back in the day, it was the same; there were lots of different people there: gay, straight, whatever. They did not care what they were called because they knew who they were.

It was me that was holding myself back because I felt like I had to fit into this mold of what people want to see.

It all started when I was 11 months old, singing a song by Jodeci in the back seat of the car. My mother turned around and said, 'Who is that?' When she saw it was me, she said, 'I think we have a singer on our hands.'

I hear from a lot of young kids. One said to me, 'You remind me of my house mother that passed away,' and another said, 'You remind me of the mother that I didn't have.'... It's beautiful that I can instill that in people.

If I had seen 'Pose' in the years I was a kid, it would have probably meant everything to me.

I have so many ways I can explain the ballroom scene. But the essence of the ballroom scene would be elegance, extravagance, and fabulousness to its 100 per cent. It's a place where you can be whoever you want to be inside of already being who you are.

I never thought in a million years that people would be able to take me seriously as an actress, and now, being a part of the Golden Globes, that's just a stamp of approval that people are seeing me as the actress I am.

Every single day, I wake up and take a glimpse of where I am now compared to where I was before, and the work that we have all put in to be in this space. I think of that, and being able to express myself through my art and show up and be present - that's activism, advocacy, and artistry in itself.

Hopefully I can play a role where I'm not stigmatized to just being a trans woman.