Quotes from Mj Rodriguez

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.

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.

I would never try to measure fame; I'm really just a regular chick from New Jersey.

There's a lot of hope and comfort and nurturing in the ballroom scene.

'Pose' itself is about family. It's about all kinds of families and how they bring themselves together and how they uplift each other and how they fight even harder to move forward.

Being able to change the world and change hearts and minds - it's uplifting.

Throughout my life, my mom, my dad, my grandmother - these were people who made sure that I had the right people around me uplifting me.

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.

For people who have been ostracized, who have been all the way at the bottom, there's only one way that we can go - and that's up.

Every day, I walk the streets with my head held high, but deep down inside, sometimes I'm like, 'I just hope I can get through the day.'

Sometimes I wake up, and I wear jeans; sometimes I want to wear khakis or full-on overalls.

I'm obviously fighting for my community simply because I'm trans, and I have to do that, and I do it because that's my existence. I wake up in the morning, and that is my activism.