The 75th annual Tony Awards proved to be a spectacular night that was full of LGBTQ+ winners.
For this year’s show, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose hosted the star-studded event – which featured an incredible and unapologetically queer opening number.
Alongside the evening’s show-stopping performances and star-studded guests, the night was also filled with an array of LGBTQ+ winners and moments.
Michael R. Jackson’s critically acclaimed show A Strange Loop nabbed both the Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.
In an after-show interview, Jackson opened up about the musical’s landmark win and what it means for the future of Black queer representation.
“I think it means that there’s a crack opening. I think that it means that people are starting to sort of sit up and think about the people around them. That we’re becoming maybe a little less myopic and that for me feels like a win,” he said.
The groundbreaking win came a few weeks after the show earned 11 nominations, including one for L Morgan Lee – who became the first openly transgender performer to be nominated for a Tony.
The show continued to make history when Six: The Musical’s Toby Marlow earned the Best Original Score Written for the Theater award, making him the first openly non-binary Tony winner.
After his win, Marlow opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about the massive achievement and the show’s diverse set of LGBTQ+ nominees.
“It just feels really amazing to be part of a season where there’s so much queerness on stage explicitly,” they said. “Representation is pretty fab.”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson also took home the award for Best Actor in a Featured Role for his work in the revival of Take Me Out – which follows a gay baseball player.
“It means a lot to me. I saw this play as a young gay man 20 years ago,” the Modern Family star said during his press-room interview. “It means so much to me to know that there’s a whole new group of kids that are a part of that community seeing Mason Marzac and falling in love with him. It’s really profound.”
Check out more moments from the 2022 Tony Awards below.
The show continued to make history when Six: The Musical’s Toby Marlow earned the Best Original Score Written for the Theater award, making him the first openly non-binary Tony winner.
After his win, Marlow opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about the massive achievement and the show’s diverse set of LGBTQ+ nominees.
“It just feels really amazing to be part of a season where there’s so much queerness on stage explicitly,” they said. “Representation is pretty fab.”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson also took home the award for Best Actor in a Featured Role for his work in the revival of Take Me Out – which follows a gay baseball player.
“It means a lot to me. I saw this play as a young gay man 20 years ago,” the Modern Family star said during his press-room interview. “It means so much to me to know that there’s a whole new group of kids that are a part of that community seeing Mason Marzac and falling in love with him. It’s really profound.”
Check out more moments from the 2022 Tony Awards below.