Actress and activist Michaela Ja\u00e9 Rodriguez will receive the inaugural Voice of Visibility Award Sunday at the 42nd annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles in recognition of her efforts to raise HIV\/AIDS awareness and advocate for the transgender community.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez, known for her roles in the television series \u201cPose\u201d and \u201cLoot,\u201d will receive the award during the event\u2019s opening ceremony at West Hollywood Park, with actor and comedian Joel Kim Booster presenting the honor, according to the organization.<\/p>\n
Singer David Archuleta will also perform during the ceremony, which begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, before participants embark on a two-mile walk through West Hollywood\u2019s Rainbow District.<\/p>\n
The annual fundraiser, organized by APLA Health, supports HIV prevention, treatment and other health care services throughout Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is still a cruel distance between what medicine can do and who actually gets to benefit from it,\u201d Rodriguez said when the announcement was made. \u201cWe know access to testing, treatment, and consistent care saves lives, yet our most marginalized communities, especially Black and Brown trans women, continue to bear a disproportionate burden.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez also emphasized the importance of continued support for marginalized communities regardless of changes in the political climate.<\/p>\n
APLA Health officials said Rodriguez was selected for the award because of her efforts to raise awareness about HIV\/AIDS, reduce stigma surrounding the disease and advocate for transgender people.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichaela Jae is a powerful voice for the community,\u201d said Craig E. Thompson, CEO of APLA Health. \u201cVoices like hers keep HIV and equity in the public conversation at a time when it would be easy to look away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez made history in 2022 when she became the first openly transgender actress to win a Golden Globe, receiving the award for best actress in a television drama for her role in \u201cPose.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also became the first transgender woman nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in a leading acting category for the same series.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s AIDS Walk theme, \u201cDefend Care, Demand Action,\u201d focuses on the importance of access to HIV testing, prevention, treatment and ongoing medical care.<\/p>\n
The event will include remarks by activists, entertainment and booths representing community organizations before participants begin the walk.<\/p>\n
APLA Health, formerly known as AIDS Project Los Angeles, provides medical care and support services to more than 23,000 people annually, including HIV treatment, primary care, dental and behavioral health services, and food and housing assistance.<\/p>\n
The 42nd annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles will take place at West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd.<\/p>\n
Registration and additional information are available at aidswalkla.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Actress and activist Michaela Ja\u00e9 Rodriguez will receive the inaugural Voice of Visibility Award Sunday at the 42nd…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[682,6758,80068,48,52,51,47,50,49,193930,102797,14830,687],"class_list":["post-500274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-aids","tag-award","tag-inaugural","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-michaela","tag-receive","tag-rodriguez","tag-walk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}