Costume designer Qween Jean becomes first out trans person to win a Tony Awardhttps://www.thepinknews.com/2026/06/08/tony-awards-qween-jean-first-out-trans-winner/ 🔗Poppy-Jay St. Palmer (8 June 2026)
Costume designer Qween Jean made history this week when she became the first out transgender person to win a Tony Award.
The win came after Jean's first season on Broadway, which saw her design costumes for 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' and 'Liberation'. She was nominated for Tony Awards for both projects, in the 'Best Costume Design of a Musical' and 'Best Costume Design of a Play' categories, respectively.
Jean took home the win for 'Cats: Jellicle Ball', a queer ballroom-style reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical.
The designer created around 500 costumes for the show, some of which included tributes to trans revolutionaries like Marsha P Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy.
At the Tony Awards ceremony on 7 June, Jean said that her experience working on the show has been "monumental".
"We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people. We are taking up space in waves. We have to take up space, we have to shift the paradigm," she said in her acceptance speech.
"I want to say thank you all so much for this incredible honour. The world right now is deeply, deeply combatting so many ailments, and we know that as a society when we come together we can make real, permanent change. Thank you so much for this honour."
