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The 2023 Tony Awards were able to continue to air as planned this year on the condition that it be unscripted so as not to cross the Writers Guild of American picket lines. This resulted in a show that stumbled through a few hiccups but bolstered some savage moments — like when actress Denée Benton likened current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to a ‘Grand Wizard,’ the title given to white supremacist leaders within the Ku Klux Klan.
“And while I am certain that the current Grand Wizard — I’m sorry, excuse me, governor — of my home state of Florida,” Benton casually stated to the roaring applause of the audience while presenting the award for the 2023 Excellence in Theatre Education Award. She continued: “I am sure that he will be changing the name of this following town immediately. We were honored to present this award to the truly incredible and life-changing Jason Zembuch Young, enhancing the lives at students at South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida.”
DeSantis, who recently announced his presidential bid, has spent his last four years in office championing racist and discriminatory legislative policies, particularly those restricting school curriculums. And even before he was elected, his campaign for governor against Andrew Gillum —Florida’s first-ever Black candidate for governor — was littered with racist remarks, like the time he essentially called his opponent a “monkey” on Fox News.
To no one’s surprise, he’s also taken aim at the LGBTQ+ community. Earlier this year, DeSantis signed new laws that included an expansion of his ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, which pushes for a ban on gender-affirming care, restrictions on bathroom use, and restrictions on drag.
Meanwhile, last night’s Tony Awards saw Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee, two Black actors, make history as the first non-binary people to win Tony Awards. “My mother raised me to understand that the gifts God gave me were not about me,” Ghee said in their acceptance speech. “To use them to be effective in the world. For every trans, nonbinary, gender non-conforming human — whoever was told they couldn’t be, couldn’t be seen, this is for you.Some Like It Hotand that ain’t bad.”
