Historic Tony Award Winner: How to Balance Faith and Queerness with Joy

Nonbinary icon J HARRISON GHEE reveals how they balance queerness, religion, and spirituality, the power of finding grace and joy in challenging times, and how you can show up authentically even when everyone is telling you to be someone else.

J Harrison Ghee is a Tony and Grammy Award winner who made history as the first nonbinary performer to win in a leading individual performance category. They’ve also appeared in numerous film/TV productions and is an outspoken advocate for the Queer community.

On this episode, they explain:

-How Drag helped them embrace their gender.

-How Kinky Boots helped heal their family.

-The four Inspiring Phrases to Realign Your Life.

-What it felt like to win a Tony Award.

-How to let go of what doesn’t serve you in order to move forward.

P.S. The easiest way for you to get involved: If you haven’t already, please take 20 seconds to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and/or YouTube! It really is the most helpful thing you can do besides listening and telling your friends!

Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(02:52) Growing Up Queer in North Carolina

(07:59) Balancing Queerness & Religion

(11:46) Navigating Parents As Adult Children

(16:39) J’s Start in New York

(20:25) Doing Drag in Japan

(22:57) Evolving Gender Through Drag

(24:47) Cruise Ships & Kinky Boots

(26:37) How Kinky Boots Healed J’s Family

(31:10) Mrs. Doubtfire: The Musical

(33:42) Some Like It Hot

(39:14) What it Feels Like to Make History & Win The Tony

(42:24) Navigating Grief & Joy

(44:22) How to Find Grace

(46:41) The Challenges of Letting Go

(48:55) Imagination is A Queer Superpower

(51:47) What Are J’s 3C’s?

Follow Along!

Follow J: https://bit.ly/4jQFKON

Follow Aidan: https://bit.ly/4sRSpoX

Follow Getting Close: https://bit.ly/4jW9Ro8

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gettingclosepod.substack.com/subscribe