Afro-Latina performer of Puerto Rican descent Ariana DeBose won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress this evening for her role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of the musical West Side Story, sixty years later after fellow Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno won for the same role in the original version directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. DeBose made history tonight becoming the first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar in an acting category.
In her acceptance speech, DeBose said "To anybody who has ever questioned your identity or you find yourself living in the gray spaces...I promise you this: there is indeed a place for us.” DeBose beat out fellow nominees Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), Judi Dench (Belfast), Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) and Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard) to take the trophy this evening at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
