Sinthia Hoque: Canadian actor Elliot Page on coming out as transgender in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey
Elliot Page, the 34 year old actor widely known for his roles in movies such as Inception, Juno and a Netflix show called the Umbrella Academy, has done a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey on The Oprah Conversation, who had aired on Friday on AppleTV.
This is the very first interview for the Halifax-born actor since coming out as a transgender, in which he speaks about his journey to transitioning, the importance of defeating anti trans bills in the United States and why trans visibility matters.
“This is incredibly new. I feel like I haven’t gotten to be myself since I was 10 years old, but it’s all these moments of joy, of euphoria in my body, of just feeling a different way, every single day”, he stated in the interview.
However after having the gender-affirming chest reconstruction surgery, he finds comfort.
He also stated that there were three previous times in his life when he knew he was trans but wasn’t ready to come out then. However in the year of 2014, he came out as gay, hoping it’d help relieve some of the “white noise” in his head. “It did a lot for me…but no, the discomfort in my body, it absolutely did not go away”, he said.
In December, Page finally decided and come out as a trans on social media, announcing his pronouns as he/him and they/them.
In his interview, he told Winfrey that this decision was not only crucial for his well-being but as well as counteracting the anti-LGBTQ and the trans backlash that he had witnessed in the United States.
“With this platform that I have, the privilege that I have, and knowing the pain and difficulties and the struggles I’ve faced in life, let alone what so many what so many other people are facing, it absolutely felt just crucial and important for me to share that”, he said.
He also presses on the issues that heavily affect trans kids, after some states have passed laws that limit the ability to receive any gender-affirming medical treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy. “I want to tell them that I see them. That they exist. That they are real”, he said.
“Looking at the attacks against trans kids right now and rhetoric, I can’t imagine what it feels like on top of everything else, and I want kids to know that they’re loved and I’m going to continue to do what I can to help this society shift how it treats transgender people”, he said.
Page is calling on help from the LGBTQ community for support to advocate for trans lives, saying how his own transition had allowed him to feel comfortable in his own body and pressing on the importance of it.
“I guess from where I’m sitting now, all I know is- the degree of comfort, sense of home, ability to be present- feels so profound and life-changing”, he said.
