Actor Elliot Page is speaking out for the first time since coming out as transgender back in January.
The 34-year-old “The Umbrella Academy” star announced that he has “fully become” himself, telling Time that the transition “has completely transformed my life.”
“This feeling of true excitement and deep gratitude to have made it to this point in my life, mixed with a lot of fear and anxiety,” Page said. “What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia. That’s essentially what happened.”
Page explained that his path towards self-discovery was a long time coming. He admitted that for years, his appearance didn’t match how he felt on the inside.
“I felt like a boy,” he recalled after he was allowed to cut his hair short as a child. “I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be someday.”
Page said that the social isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic was a gift.
“I had a lot of time on my own to really focus on things that I think, in so many ways, unconsciously, I was avoiding,” said Page, who filed for divorce from his wife, Emma Portner, in January. “I was finally able to embrace being transgender and letting myself fully become who I am.”
Page hopes to help others who don’t have any support in their transition.
“Extremely influential people are spreading these myths and damaging rhetoric — every day you’re seeing our existence debated. Transgender people are so very real,” he explained. “My privilege has allowed me to have resources to get through and to be where I am today, and of course I want to use that privilege and platform to help in the ways I can.”
He also spoke on how his personal identity shouldn't be up for debate.
“We know who we are,” Page said. “People cling to these firm ideas because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place.”
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