Molly Kearney Becomes First Nonbinary Cast Member on 'SNL'

With a depleted lineup, and the absence of Senior Producer Lindsay Shookus, casting for Season 48 proved to be a challenge. The silver lining? SNL is getting gayer. In 2019, Bowen Yang made history as the first out gay asian on-air cast member, paving the way for Kearney and other queer comedians, like Punkie Johnson (of Season 46).

Related | This Generation of Comedy Is Queer

Kearney has held a breadth of roles, most recently as Fern Dannely in Amazon Prime’s queer reimagining of A League of Their Own and the TV adaptation of '90s sports movie The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+. They performed in Comedy Central’s Up Next showcase for up-and-coming comedians in 2019, and are long overdue for their come up.

Kearney celebrated the personal and historic milestone on Instagram, reposting SNL’s Story with the caption, "Head exploding!! Thanks for all the love everyone," with a red heart emoji. Then, on their own Instagram post, they wrote, "MEATBRICK MOVED TO NEW YORK !!!!"

Although SNL’s hold over mainstream pop culture and the comedy world may be loosening in a TikTok and Twitter comedian saturated landscape, it is no less of an American Institution. Kearney’s inclusion in it goes a long way for the ever-expanding queer comedy scene.

Kearney will be joined by cast members Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker. The next season is set to start in October, when we'll be tuning in with the hopes that the opening monologue will welcome "Theydies and Gentlethems."

Photo via Instagram/@meatbrickmolly