Qween Jean just made history as she became the first openly transgender person to win a Tony Award in a competitive category.
The costume designer has won the Best Costume Design of a Musical award for her work on Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a reimagined production that has drawn acclaim for its creativity and celebration of ballroom culture.
In a moving speech upon accepting the award, Qween Jean paid homage to the significance of the occasion and the communities that contributed to her personal story.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people. We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor.”
Her speech continued, touching on social themes and the true meaning of unity in this difficult time.
“The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
Qween Jean’s historic victory at the 2026 Tony Awards received much acclaim from many people in the entertainment industry as well as the LGBTQ+ community, given that this occurred during Pride Month.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball received praise for bringing a new spin to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical by incorporating New York ballroom culture into it, winning many awards nominations during its production run.
Qween Jean’s career, milestones, and education
While Liberation marked her Broadway debut, Qween Jean has a very distinguished record on the off-Broadway stage that includes an array of different plays.
Earlier this year, she won an esteemed Lucille Lortel Award for her amazing involvement in the award-winning show from the New York Theater Workshop titled Saturday Church.
She also contributed to Black No More, a groundbreaking musical adaptation, and Semblance, a work that pushes boundaries in storytelling.
Her credits further include What to Send Up When It Goes Down, which is a powerful exploration of resilience in the face of adversity, and The Fever, a stirring commentary on the human experience.
A Florida native, she began her career at the Florida School of the Arts. She received her Masters in Design at the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University in 2016.
Her victory is a momentous step in the direction of Broadway and yet another entry in the rising number of transgender artists winning awards in the entertainment industry.
Apart from being a costume designer, she is also an activist and the founder of Black Trans Liberation, a movement and mutual-aid organization dedicated to fighting systemic oppression and improving the lives of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals.
Edited by Gladys Altamarino