Alex Newell and J Harrison Ghee made history during Month as the first openly non-binary actors to win a Tony Award.
The took place last night at the United Palace in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighbourhood with the likes of , Kimberly Akimbo, and Sean Hayes all scooping up accolades.
Newell, 30, snatched the Best Performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for their performance as Lulu in the 2022 musical Shucked.
Meanwhile Ghee, 33, moments later bagged the award for best lead actor in a Musical thanks to their portrayal of Jerry/Daphne, a gender-questioning musician, in Some Like It Hot.
When accepting their award, Newell addressed the monumental event, and endeavoured to inspire others to chase their dreams.
‘Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here as a queer nonbinary fat Black lil baby from Massachusetts,’ they said.
‘To anyone that thinks they can’t do it, I’m going to look you dead in your face [and say] that you can do anything you put your mind to.’
They also thanked her mother as well as the cast and crew of Shucked for ‘loving [them] unconditionally’ and ‘teaching [them] what strength is.’
Ghee gave an emotional acceptance speech, dedicating their win to ‘every trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming human who was ever told you couldn’t be seen.’
Both stars agreed to compete in the best actor categories as the Tony Awards still used gendered performance categories.
Many people within the industry have called for a change to the way in which awards ceremonies work and to ditch gendered awards, including The Last Of Us actor Bella Ramsey.
Ramsey, 19, who identifies as non-binary, has called for currently used by some awards shows following their experience submitting themselves for recognition at the 2023 Emmys.
They admitted it was ‘uncomfortable’ registering for eligibility to receive gongs when only male and female categories existed.
‘The categories at the moment feel extremely gendered with the language around them,’ they told.
‘I don’t want the limitations in terms of the language in the categories to be a reason that non-binary actors like me can’t be celebrated.
‘And it can open up a conversation about how it feels – as long as I’m aware of the fact that it’s not ideal, but also that finding alternatives is really complex.’
Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson chose to over the gendered categories, stating there is ‘no place’ for the non-binary actor to apply.
‘It would be inaccurate for me to submit myself as an actress. It neither makes sense for me to be lumped in with the boys. It’s quite straightforward and not that loaded,’ they told .
‘I can’t submit myself for this because there’s no space for me.’
