For actor Elliot Page, the journey to an authentic life was, and remains, an emotional one. In his first interview since going out As a transgender in December, Page spoke to Time Magazine about the “deep gratitude” he felt “for having reached this point in my life” and about his struggle to ensure that all trans individuals have the support they need.
“I want to live and be who I am,” Page, who is well known for his role in Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy”, told Time. “… It is a complicated journey and an ongoing process.”
Page is the first transgender to appear on the cover of Time Magazine, according to Reuters.
Despite coming out just three months ago, Page, 34, said in the interview that he felt and wanted to identify himself as a boy since he was a child. But he said that being a professional actor, a career that started at age 10, required him to “have a certain appearance”.
When he decided to tell the world that his name is Elliot, he said that he expected a lot of support and love – but also an “enormous amount of hatred and transphobia”.
“This is essentially what happened,” Page told the magazine. But despite the criticism he faces, he told the magazine that he believes he has the privilege and responsibility to be honest and live with authenticity.
“Extremely influential people are spreading these myths and damaging rhetoric – every day you see our existence being debated,” said Page. “Trans people are very real.”
Much of that debate was political. So far, in 2021, there have been more than 100 proposed bills that would negatively affect the LGBTQ community, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. More than 60 of these projects are specifically aimed at young transgender people, said the ACLU.
Since coming out, Page has mainly used his social media pages to raise awareness of crimes and legislative actions that are hurting the LGBTQ community. One of the issues he focuses on is access to non-discriminatory health care for transgender individuals.
One of the most comprehensive surveys of transgender individuals in the U.S., launched in 2016, found that one in three transgender individuals who consulted a doctor during the year reported at least one negative experience related to being transgender, including harassment and refusal of treatment. Those who are transgender are also more likely than the general population to be uninsured.
“My privilege has allowed me to have the resources to get through and be where I am today,” Page told Time, “and of course I want to use that privilege and platform to help in any way I can.”
Even when he tweeted about his interview on Time, Elliot used his platform to raise awareness of the discrimination that transgender individuals face. “With deep respect for those who came before me, gratitude for those who supported me and great concern for the generation of young trans people that we all must protect, join me and criticize anti-trans, hatred and discrimination legislation in all your forms, “he tweeted.
“We know who we are,” Page told Time, referring to the debate over the rights of transgender individuals. “People hold on to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be a much better place. “