MJ Rodriguez To Receive Trailblazer Hispanic Heritage Award

You know MJ Rodriguez as Blanca Rodriguez Evangelista from the hit FX show POSE that will kick off Season 2 in 2019.   
MJ Rodriguez, the actress who plays Blanca, is poised to make history when the 31st annual Hispanic Heritage Awards take place in Washington DC at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The 27 year old Rodriguez will be honored by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation with the Trailblazer Hispanic Heritage Award. 

It is a prestigious one in the Latinx community that has previously gone to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Gloria Estefan, Rita Moreno, Celia Cruz, America Ferrera, Gael Garcia Bernal, Zoe Saldana, Ricky Martin and Placido Domino just to name some of the recipients of that award. 

Congratulations to MJ as her name joins that distinguished list of honorees.

Rodriguez is being recognized for her “talent, courage and social impact,” according to Jose Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. “Her story is a journey of triumph as she leads the way for transgender representation in Hollywood and beyond,” he said in a statement.

Rodriguez will become the first trans feminine woman ever to win this award, and the Hispanic Heritage Awards can be seen on PBS later this month.
 

Trans Latinx Leadership Institute in Houston This Weekend

Been a while since I got to spend some quality time with Jennicet Gutierrez, and when she let me know she was in Houston for a few days, I carved some time out yesterday to reconnect and hang out with her.

That three hours I was planning to hang out with her turned into ten because what I discovered after I met Jenni at her Galleria area hotel is that she was here along with the Transgender Law Center to help facilitate a Latinx Leadership Institute that started this morning at 9 AM CDT..

I also got reminders of my quasi celebrity status while I was hanging out at the Doubletree Galleria. Discovered that someone I'd done a panel discussion with at HCC Southeast a few years ago was now working as the manager at the hotel, and he thanked me for all the work I'd been doing on behalf of the community.

I also ended up demolishing a few of those delicious Doubletree chocolate chip cookies as Jennicet and I caught up about what we'd been doing since #CC15 and a few other subjects as we waited for the other people flying into Houston for the Institute arrived at the hotel and ensure they had no issues checking in while doing so.

I ended up going to the Argentine Cafe with them for dinner and chatting with many of the participants, some of who are my Facebook friends like Alexa Rodriguez, Isa Noyola and Flor Bermudez   Houston's own Ana Andrea Molina was also in the house to hang out and reconnect with the folks arriving for the Institute and to also welcome them to H-town   

I also ended with a few new friends like Reyna Ortiz, Mia Lozado Navarro, and Diego Barrera.

The Instituto Nacional de Capacitación kicked off this morning and will last through Saturday,

It has over 20 Latinx trans participants from across the United States with a focus not only on discussing the issues impacting immigrant trans Latinx people, but also building their leadership skills so they can be more effective at their grassroots level work when they return home.

Welcome to H-town Latinx Trans Fam!  Hope you have a successful and informative conference. Hope you also get to enjoy what my hometown has to offer while you're here inside Harris County.

I also hope that lifelong friendships and working relationships are being formed during your time here, and looking forward to see what amazing work you all do post conference.