In Historic Night for Nonbinary Performers, J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell win Tony Awards

J. Harrison Ghee, whose portrayal of a gender-questioning musician on the run from the mafia in “Some Like It Hot” has charmed critics and audiences alike, won a Tony Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical Sunday Night, becoming the first not binary actor winning that award.

Ghee’s win came shortly after Alex Newell, who is also non-binary, won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, becoming the first non-binary performer to win a Tony.

The victories come at a time when gender identity has become a central element of America’s culture wars, as conservatives in multiple states push for legislation on a variety of LGBTQ-related issues, including gender-affirming medical care for transgender children and teens, bathroom access, sports participation and, in some states, performances.

The Tony Awards, like the Oscars, only have gender categories for performers, and Ghee and Newell agreed to be considered for awards as actors. (Another non-binary artist this season, Justin David Sullivan of “& Juliet,” chose not to be eligible for awards rather than compete in a gender category.)

Asked in a recent interview with The New York Times if he was nominated in a gender category, Ghee said, “Wherever I am, I will appear as I am. Someone’s compartmentalization of me doesn’t limit me in any way.

“I hope for the industry that we can remove the gender from it,” they added, “because we are creators and we need to free ourselves from so many labels and let the work speak for itself.”

At least two artists who later came out as non-binary have previously won Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical: Sarah Ramirezwho won in 2005 for ‘Spamalot’, and Karen Olive (aka KO), who won in 2009 for a revival of “West Side Story.” Also: Last year the Tony Award for best score went to Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss for “Six”, and Marlow is non-binary.

Ghee’s portrayal of a main character in “Some Like It Hot” reflects the way views of gender have evolved since 1959, when the Billy Wilder movie it was based on was released. In the film, Jack Lemmon plays a musician named Jerry who dresses up as a woman named Daphne to flee the mob; in the musical, Ghee plays the same character, but Jerry’s path to becoming Daphne becomes one of self-discovery, not disguise.

The performance received critical acclaim. Jesse Green, the Times’ chief theater critic, wrote that Ghee “carefully traces Jerry’s transformation into Daphne, then the fusing of the two identities into a third that takes us into territory far more complex than dragging jokes.”

Ghee, 33, worked as a drag performer before finding success in musical theatre, with key roles on Broadway in “Kinky Boots” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” for “Some Like It Hot.”