Costume designer and activist Qween Jean has made history after becoming the first openly transgender person to win a Tony Award, taking home the prize for Cats: The Jellicle Ball at this year’s ceremony in New York.
Jean secured the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical at the 79th Tony Awards, held at Radio City Music Hall, marking a landmark moment for Broadway and LGBTQ+ representation.
The Haiti-born designer accepted the honour wearing a ruffled lavender gown of her own design, opening her speech with a celebratory “Happy Pride!” as she addressed the audience.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said on stage. “We have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm.”
Jean’s victory is the first time an openly trans person has won a Tony Award in the ceremony’s history, though several non-binary performers have previously been recognised.
Her award-winning work came on Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long-running musical, which reinterprets the story through the lens of ballroom culture and queer identity.
The production was among the most talked-about of the Broadway season, earning multiple nominations and praise for its bold aesthetic and cultural influences.
Jean, who is also the founder of the Black Trans Liberation organisation, used her acceptance speech to highlight the broader significance of visibility and community.
“We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space,” she said. “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.”
In addition to her winning work on Cats, Jean was also nominated in a second category for her costume design on the play Liberation, capping a breakthrough year for the designer on Broadway.
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