Yahoo Finance Nonbinary & Juliet Performer Withdraws from Gendered Tony Awards Consideration: 'The Only Right Thing'
Bruce Glikas/Getty
Broadway performer Justin David Sullivan, a principal cast member in the new musical & Juliet, is withdrawing from Tony Awards consideration instead of competing in a gendered awards category.
Sullivan, who identifies as nonbinary and uses he, she and they pronouns, told Playbill on Wednesday they decided to step away from awards consideration altogether after they were presented with choosing to be considered in the actor or actress categories for potential nominations at the 76th Tony Awards in June. Sullivan portrays the nonbinary character May in & Juliet.
"I was told that I had to choose [the category in which] I felt comfortable, and in that process, I struggled a lot," the performer told the outlet in a statement.
"There's nothing more that I want to empower than nonbinary people, to show that it's possible to be nonbinary on Broadway, play a non-binary character on Broadway and be nominated, and possibly potentially awarded," Sullivan said. "I felt like I couldn't choose. I didn't feel right being in either category because it didn't resonate with me."
"I decided the only thing that felt right to me would be to abstain from nomination consideration," Sullivan added to the outlet. "So I will not be considered for a Tony nomination."
RELATED: Emma Corrin Asks for Gender-Neutral Acting Award Categories: 'Do We Need to Make It Specific?'
Bruce Glikas/Getty
The Tony Awards, which are presented by The Broadway League and The American Theatre Wing, recognized Sullivan's decision to abstain from awards consideration and wrote that the organization is "currently in discussion about how to best adjust" its current acting categories in a statement obtained by multiple outlets Wednesday.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"Unfortunately, we are still in process on this and our rules do not allow us to make changes once a season has begun," the awards wrote in a statement, per The New York Times. "We are working thoughtfully to ensure that no member of our community feels excluded on the basis of gender identity in future seasons."
Sullivan is not the first nonbinary Broadway performer in recent years to abstain from awards consideration. Actor Asia Kate Dillon, who starred as Malcom in Macbeth last year, also asked not to be considered in either of the Tony's gendered acting categories, though that decision was not made public at the time, according to the Times.
Bruce Glikas/Getty
RELATED: Common to Make Broadway Debut in 'Between Riverside and Crazy' — Inching Closer to EGOT Status
"I hope that this is a wake-up call to not only the Tonys, but for every award show to celebrate everyone and to make sure they're being inclusive," Sullivan told Playbill Wednesday. "Things are shifting. There are so many gender-queer and gender-expansive artists in our community, and they bring so much to the table. So it hurts, and it was a really hard decision to make."
"I hope that this inspires a conversation to be had and an important one that needs to happen, to make sure that moving forward, there is more inclusivity in the nomination categories," the performer added.
The 76th Tony Awards will air Sunday, June 11.
