Tony Awards Make History With First-Ever Nonbinary Actor Nominations

Glee star Alex Newell and Accused star J. Harrison Ghee have become the first out, nonbinary performers to be to nominated for a Tony Award!

The 76th Annual Tony Award nominations debuted this morning – and made history. Newell plays Lulu in Shucked and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor while Ghee nabbed a nomination for Best Lead Actor in the Some Like It Hot revival. The two stars are friends are attended last night's Met Gala in New York City. The celebrated the news on Instagram.

"We walked in The Met as Met Gala Virgins and woke up TONY NOMINEES!!!" Newell captioned a photo of her story. Ghee later shared the image.

Newell, who specifically identifies as gender nonconforming and uses all pronouns, explained his reasoning behind the decision to be submitted in the category. "I went based off the English language. The standard has always been a male is an actor and a female as an actress. And I don't like that. Because when I say I'm an actor, I mean that is my profession, the craft that I studied, the craft that I'm doing," People reports. "Everyone who does acting is an actor. That is genderless."

She continued, "I appreciate that the categories are separate to give cis women, and women in general, an actual fighting chance to win awards in such a male-dominated field. If we can create that, we can create more lanes for other people who don't want to stick to those two categories. I think me choosing actor, I hope, will be a spark to use that word as it was meant to the art of acting."

Ghee had a similar line of thinking and says applying for that specific category was very intentional. "I'm grateful my producers considered and asked me before saying they are going to submit me for consideration, acknowledging I identify in this way. They said that this is how the Tonys are working, this is what we're submitting you as. I appreciate that, and they understand the human that they got in this process, and they know that I'm not going to show up any less than who I am."

They continued, "Someone else's labels or limits are not going to bound me and my ability to do anything. My artistry and the work will speak for itself. What anybody claims or puts on is extra, and they're trying to place someone else's experience on me. I'm here to be intentional about my ministry and my work. So again, I'm protecting Black joy over here. That's all I'm doing."

It's a split topic amongst nonbinary performers. Justin David Sullivan, who stars in the musical & Juliet, withdrew themselves from consideration this year specifically because of the gendered categories, People reports.

"I was told that I had to choose [the category in which] I felt comfortable, and in that process I struggled a lot," they said in a statement. "There's nothing more that I want to empower than nonbinary people, to show that it's possible to be nonbinary on Broadway, play a nonbinary character on Broadway and be nominated, and possibly potentially awarded. I felt like I couldn't choose. I didn't feel right being in either category because it didn't resonate with me."

Nonbinary actors across theater, movies, and television are having to navigate these gendered awards. Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson withdrew from this year's Emmy race for the same reason. “There’s not a place for me in the acting categories,” said Hewson. “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. I can’t submit myself for this because there’s no space for me.”

The 76th Annual Tony Awards will premiere June 11, 2023 on CBS at 8 pm ET. Ariana Debose (who did the thing) is set to host the event.