Andrew Garfield’s Tonys win for Angels in America feels very important

The first award announced at the 72nd annual Tony Awards was Andrew Garfield’s win for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his role as Prior Walter in Angels in America, and it felt very significant.

When Andrew Garfield took the stage to deliver an acceptance speech for his win in the Best Leading Actor in a Play category for his portrayal of Prior Walter in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, he called it his life’s privilege to play Walter.

Indeed, the most Tony Award-nominated play in Broadway history has been beloved since it premiered more than 20 years ago.

But the 2018 revival — for which Garfield was nominated as well as Nathan Lane (Best Featured Actor in a Play), Susan Brown (Best Featured Access in a Play), Denise Gough (Best Featured Actress in a Play) and which received a Best Revival of a Play nomination as part of its 11 overall — couldn’t have come at a more crucial time.

This week, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of a baker in Colorado who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, appearing to prioritize religious rights protected by the First Amendment over discrimination against gay couples.

This week also saw thousands attend Pride parades across the country.

Related Story: Once again, the Grammys reminds you that art is optional

So with those events setting the backdrop, Garfield’s win for his portrayal of a gay man grappling with an AIDS diagnosis and homosexual discrimination feels especially poignant.

And Garfield took the opportunity to make his point during his acceptance speech.

“The most important thing we remember right now is the sanctity of the human spirit,” Garfield said. He also praised the spirit of the LGBTQ community, saying, “It is a spirit that says no to oppression. It is a spirit that says no to bigotry, no to exclusion.

“I dedicate this award to the countless LGBTQ people who have fought and died to protect that spirit, to protect that message: For the right to live and love as we are created to.”

As for that Supreme Court ruling?

“Let’s just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked,” Garfield concluded, in a quote that you’ll be hearing for days.

And for good reason.