The annual Tony Awards ceremony is always full of heartfelt moments, as the best and the brightest in the theater industry get much-deserved recognition for their work. The 2023 edition, of course, was no different. Among all the celebrities that had their moment to shine, Michael Arden stood out due to his acceptance speech.
At one point during the happy night, Arden took to the stage to accept the award for Best Direction of a Musical, and in doing so, he took the opportunity to touch on a subject close to his heart. Arden spoke directly and passionately to the LGBTQ+ community, of which he is a part, and despite it all starting without issue, the latter half of his speech has been censored. Naturally, those who caught wind of Arden’s words were quick to trend his name online, but the reason behind it is still lost to many.
What part of Michael Arden’s speech caused him to trend, and why?
As shown in the video above, Arden used a homophobic slur in his speech, which has been censored, along with about half of his sentence. The words leading up to this moment were as follows:
“To our beautiful trans, non-binary, queer youth, know that your queerness is what makes you beautiful and powerful. Everyone in this room sees you and needs you and will fight alongside you and we will win. Growing up, I was called the F-word more times than I can remember, and all I can say is that now I’m a f****t with a Tony.”
As soon as those words came out of his mouth, Arden received a huge round of applause for his choice to reclaim a slur previously used by others to tear him down. In fact, taking back certain words’ power by reclaiming them is a process that many minorities have chosen to partake in over the years. Nevertheless, this process is still underway, and due to its history, the F-word is still considered a slur in current times, with many people still opting not to use it, even when addressing themselves.
In general, the reclamation of slurs is a controversial and sensitive topic, as it brings up decades of hurt and humiliation for those targeted by the terms. That said, many members of the community praise Arden for his speech and consider it particularly impactful. In a time in which LGBTQ+ rights are being threatened in the U.S., it’s easy to understand why.