feature image photo by Taylor Hill / Contributor via Getty Images

Costume designer Qween Jean made history last night when she became the first out trans woman to win a Tony award, snagging the win for Best Costume Design of a Musical for her work on Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a reimagination of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. This is great and amazing news, especially since Cats: The Jellical Ball is a take on Cats that focuses on ballroom culture, where Black trans women have historically played a key role.

However, despite all the mainstream media headlines, she’s not the first trans person full stop to win. Last year, Cole Escola won a Tony for Oh, Mary!, and in 2023, Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee won Tonys for their performances in Shucked and Some Like it Hot respectively. Before that, in 2022, Toby Marlow won the Tony for Best Original Score alongside their creative partner for their work on the musical Six. So that’s at least four non-binary/genderqueer people who have won in the past three years, and yet a lot of mainstream media seems to be ignoring this fact. Or misunderstanding what it is to be nonbinary entirely. A Deadline article even says, “While several non-binary performers have won Tonys in the past, Qween Jean is the first trans winner.” And Playbill’s own website says it, too.

What’s wild about this is: They can still have their snappy “first” headline and be accurate. As far as my research has found, Qween Jean IS the first openly trans WOMAN to win a Tony. It’s still a huge accomplishment, and what was once coined “sadgressive” by the podcast Hysteria. In other words: progressive, but sad it took this long. These outlets could be celebrating this win and this huge step forward for the Broadway community without taking away from the firsts of the nonbinary people who came before her.

Another win for the dolls: They were called out specifically in P!nk’s opening number, in which the lyrics of Lady Marmalade were rewritten to be “Leading Lady Marmalade” and celebrating some major stars of Broadway. Trans actresses Dylan Mulvaney (who is currently starring in Six) and Leiomy Maldonado (currently in the cast of Cats: The Jellicle Ball) had a line where they said, “hey sisters, all sisters, protect the dolls, sisters.” It was a really sweet moment amidst a really fun opening number.

Congrats to Qween Jean and all the Tony winners!

Encore! More news!

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+ Kristen Arnett wrote an article for Oprah Daily about her wedding (where she married our own Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya) about the family she has lost and found since coming out

+ My fellow Buffy fans and I have been mourning Anthony Head this week, but a lovely story resurfaced of him going above and beyond for a trans fan

+ Hayley Kiyoko says making the film Girls Like Girls has helped her embrace her Japanese heritage

+ Emma Corin is the first nonbinary recipient of Variety’s Power of Women Award; and Cynthia Erivo won one this year as well

+ Queer actress Malia Pyles talks about Cape Fear, She’s the He, her first crushes on fictional women, and more

+ Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman from The Hunting Wives wish you a happy Pride Month

+ Ashlyn Harris wants to put closure on her career via a documentary about her life called Gamechangers: The Ashlyn Harris Story, out now on Roku

+ Love Island host Ariana Madix wants more queer people on the reality show

+ Jessica Shannon and Shyann McCant from Mama June: From Not to Hot announced their split just a few weeks after their wedding aired

+ Netflix’s Mating Season (from the creators of Big Mouth) is “for certified freaks” (complimentary)