June 16th 2023.
On Sunday night, history was made at the 76th Annual Tony Awards. For the first time in the award show's decades-long run, two openly nonbinary performers, J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell, won major acting categories.
Ghee, who won a lead actor award for their performance in Casey Nicholaw’s musical Some Like It Hot, was overcome with emotion as they accepted the award. Born to a Missionary Baptist pastor and raised in North Carolina, Ghee was not always accepted for their identity and career. When they came out to their parents at 21, their mother was against their sexuality and career as a drag star, believing it was not in God’s plan. However, Ghee’s father had slightly more accepting words, saying only this: “I don’t know where this came from and where I went wrong, but you’re still my son. You’re a part of me. You represent me. I love you.” These words comforted Ghee as they ventured further into their theatre career.
Newell, who was awarded featured actor in a musical for their role as Lulu in Jack O’Brien’s Shucked, also spoke to Today about how they reconciled their faith and identity as they pursued a musical theater career. They said, “My gender identity, my sexuality, my effeminate mannerisms, and my faith conflicted with each other and who I am. So, I had to learn to love who I am and I’m grateful for my mother and the strong community of Black women who loved me for me.”
Both Ghee and Newell have had expansive careers. Ghee has starred on the small screen and the stage in musicals such as Mrs. Doubtfire and The Color Purple, as well as television shows High Maintenance and Raising Dion. Newell has featured and starred on shows Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and a Broadway revival of Once on This Island. They have also released numerous dance-pop singles, garnering millions of streams in the U.S. and the U.K.
The 2023 Tony Awards was a night of celebration for the two gender non-conforming performers and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. Watch Ghee’s and Newell’s acceptance speeches below:
J. Harrison Ghee becomes the second openly nonbinary actor to win at the #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/9DJ0D63Yrs
— The Hollywood Reporter June 12, 2023
Alex Newell gets emotional accepting the #TonyAwards for best performance by a featured actor pic.twitter.com/fnjWbOQ5e6
— The Hollywood Reporter June 12, 2023
This milestone is an important moment for the LGBTQ+ community, and a reminder to never let anyone tell you that you cannot be seen. Congratulations to J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell on their groundbreaking Tony awards!
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