Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee make history as first nonbinary Tony acting winners
Aelx Newell and J. Harrison Ghee at the Tony Awards. Their wins marked a first for the Tony Awards and were celebrated by the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Two performers who identify as nonbinary made history at Sunday’s Tony Awards.
Alex Newell took home the Tony for best performance in a featured role in a musical for their role as Lulu in “Shucked,” while J. Harrison Ghee won the Tony for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical for their role as Jerry/Daphne in the revival of “Some Like It Hot.”
Their wins marked a first for the Tony Awards and were celebrated by the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.
“My mother raised me to understand that my gifts that God gave me were not about me. To use them to be effective in the world to help somebody else’s journey, Ghee said in their acceptance speech. “For every trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming human who ever was told you couldn’t be, you couldn’t be seen, this is for you.”
Newell spoke of winning a Tony as being a lifelong dream.
“I should not be up here as a queer nonbinary fat little baby from Massachusetts,” they said. “And to anyone who thinks they can’t do it. You can do anything you put your mind to.”
The 2023 Tony Awards was hosted Sunday night by Oscar-winning actress Ariana DeBose.
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