Good for him!
The actor who’s known for their work on the film Juno, the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, and more has some news for the world: he’s transgender and their name is Elliot Page. The 33-year-old Oscar nominee let the world in on this fact through an open letter posted to Twitter.
Under an updated Twitter account that now says @TheElliotPage, Page, who married Emma Portner in 2018, wrote, “Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot. I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life.”
— Elliot Page (@TheElliotPage) December 1, 2020
From there, Page took a brief moment to express their joy at this time. But being a realist when it comes to LGBTQ life in America and the world, they then took the time to acknowledge their privileges and the injustices placed upon trans people.
“The statistics are staggering,” They wrote. “The discrimination towards trans people is rife, insidious and cruel, resulting in horrific consequences. In 2020 alone it has been reported that at least 40 transgender people have been murdered, the majority of which were Black and Latinx trans women.”
He then added, “To the political leaders who work to criminalize trans health care and deny our right to exist and to all of those with a massive platform who continue to spew hostility towards the trans community: you have blood on your hands. You unleash a fury of vile and demeaning rage that lands on the shoulders of the trans community, a community in which 40% of trans adults report attempting suicide. Enough is enough.”
He continued with, “You aren’t being ‘cancelled,’ you are hurting people. I am one of those people and we won’t be silent in the face of your attacks. I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive.”
Elliot then ended their message with outstretched words of love for trans people who have faced harassment and violence in their daily lives.
“I see you, I love you and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better,” he wrote.
Again, this isn’t the first time that Elliot Page has spoken so passionately about LGBTQ rights and LGBTQ lives under our hostile government and society. But, this is the first time that the actor has openly discussed being transgender to the public. And to do so not only as a moment for themselves but a moment to spotlight all trans people? This is an example of why we love Elliot Page. Thank you, Elliot Page, for posting and sharing.
