Tony Awards gingerly approach real progress by nominating two nonbinary actors
J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell are the first openly nonbinary actors nominated for Tonys

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2004 Tony Awards Photo: Frank Micelotta
It seems like just a matter of time before major awards shows either completely ditch gendered acting categories or come up with some alternative that is more inclusive, and while the Tony Awards haven’t made that move yet, the organization has at least made a step toward it. This morning, the Tony Awards announcements came out, and they included a pair of history-making names with nonbinary actors J. Harrison Ghee (from Some Like It Hot) and Alex Newell (from Shucked) getting nominated for Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role In A Musical and Best Performance By An Actor In A Featured Role In A Musical (respectively)—making them the first two openly nonbinary actors to be nominated for Tony Awards.