Elliot Page, star of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” and Oscar-nominated actor, came out publicly as transgender.
Page wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday, “I wanted to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot.”
In the post, the 33-year-old actor noted that while he goes by he/him/his pronouns, he is also comfortable using nonbinary gender-neutral pronouns, including they/them.
The Nova Scotia-born actor added, “I love that I am trans, and I love that I am queer.”
Page’s first acting gig came in 1997; when he was 10 years old. He also starred in the Canadian comedy series “Trailer Park Boys” as a child. His breakout role as the title character in the 2007 flick “Juno” gained him widespread notoriety and several award nominations, including an Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nomination (a note: because these nominations were given to Page prior to his coming out, they were for the title of Best Actress).
“I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey,” Page said. “I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self.”
Page made headlines when he came out as queer — at the time, he said he identified as gay — before several hundred people during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s 2014 conference for LGBT Youth. At the time, Page said growing up in the limelight stunted his ability to find his true identity. “You have ideas planted in your head, thoughts you never had before that tell you how you have to act, how you have to dress and who you have to be. I have been trying to push back, to be authentic, to follow my heart, but it can be hard,” he said at the HRC event.
In addition to his recent work on Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” — which earned him a Saturn Award nomination in 2019 — Page starred in the Netflix miniseries “Tales of the City.” He made his directorial debut with the 2015 film “Freeheld,” which tells the story of a lesbian police detective facing challenges when transferring her pension benefits to her domestic partner after a cancer diagnosis. Page also produced “Freeheld,” which starred Julianne Moore and Michael Shannon.
Page said he’s overjoyed to be living authentically, but also acutely aware of the twofold dangers that often come with visibility.
“My joy is real, but it is also fragile,” Page said. “The truth is, despite feeling profoundly happy right now and knowing how much privilege I carry, I am also scared. I’m scared of the invasiveness, the hate, the ‘jokes’ and the violence. To be clear, I am not trying to dampen a moment that is joyous and one I celebrate, but I want to address the full picture,” he said, before dedicating a paragraph of his coming out letter to addressing the ever-rising number of Transgender individuals murdered in hate crime attacks each year. “The discrimination towards trans people is rife, insidious and cruel, resulting in horrific consequences… in 2020 alone it has been reported that over 40 transgender people have been murdered, the majority of which were Black and Latinx trans women.”
Page added that he plans to use his platform as a famous transgender person to draw further attention to underrepresented trans people and issues, including the rising mortality rates of Trans and gender non-conforming Americans.