On Monday, Elliot Page took to Instagram for the first time since coming out as transgender to thank fans for supporting him during his transition.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Your love and support has been the greatest gift. Stay safe. Be there for each other,” Page wrote, while also asking fans to consider donating to two transgender-focused charities. “If you are able, support @transanta and @translifeline. See you in 2021. Xoxo Elliot.”
Trans Lifeline is one of the most prominent suicide prevention hotlines in the country, and the leading phone outreach program for transgender people in mental health crises. It was also one of the first organizations to congratulate Page on coming out earlier this month — in a post commending the actor, the organization said, “Your words are powerful and inspiring.”
Unlike many other suicide hotlines, Trans Lifeline is run and staffed by transgender professionals. Founded in 2014, the nonprofit also offers a “microgrant” program that provides assistance to low-income transgender people who need help changing their legal name and gender marker through their local court system. The numbers are (877) 565-8860 in the U.S., and (877) 330-6366 in Page’s native Canada.
Page also shouted out Trans Santa, an organization founded in part by “Pose” star Indya Moore that gives transgender, intersex and nonbinary youth with financial struggles a chance to receive gifts during the holidays by updating an Instagram gift registry. The system allows kids to write letters explaining what they’re in need of, which the organization then packages together with the help of retailers like Target.
Earlier this month, Page told the world he identified as a transgender man, writing in an Instagram post on Dec. 1, “I wanted to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot.”
The 33-year-old actor added, “I love that I am trans, and I love that I am queer.”
Page, who is now most well-known for his role as Vanya Hargreeves in Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy,” will return to play Hargreeves in the show’s third season, debuting next year. After Page came out as transgender, Netflix was very quick to update the metadata on its site to reflect the actor’s proper name in the credits of “The Umbrella Academy” and all his other work currently hosted on the streamer.