Elliot Page begins new chapter
Transgender rights champion hails from Halifax
It’s rare when a social media post can be described as a landmark, but when Elliot Page hit send on their Dec. 1 Instagram message sharing their transgender, non-binary identity, it proved to be a moment of celebration for the actor’s fans and the trans community, which embraced a new champion.
The Nova Scotia-raised Oscar nominated star and filmmaker expressed their emotions in the moment with the kind of forthright honesty we’ve come to expect; a simultanous mix of joy and fear at the thought of starting a whole new chapter in their life, pursuing their authentic self, with a clear sense of responsibility to use their voice and their platform to push for change, acceptance and “to strive for a more loving and equal society.”
The fear comes from the knowledge that Page’s life will continue to be placed under a media microscope, while subject to a backlash of intolerance and hate in forms ranging from online snark to outright threats, but staying silent is not in their script.
Immediate support came from the trans community and the entertainment field following Page’s announcement, including from notables like Cynthia Nixon, Anna Paquin, Natalie Portman and Miley Cyrus. Their X-Men co-star Sir Patrick Stewart responded with clarity and honesty, “Elliot, I am proud to be your friend.”
Page has already been deemed a hero by the LGBTQ+ community and the environmental movement, and their passion is no less now that it has been decrying discrimination in show business or speaking out about the effects of industrial and municipal polution on marginalized groups in the 2019 documentary There’s Something in the Water.
In their Dec. 1 message, Page made clear the change that needs to happen to end discrimination against transgender people, to end the hate and rage that has caused many to be murdered on the basis of their identity, and has caused a staggering number of trans adults to attempt suicide. They vowed to do everything they can to fight the harrassment, selfloathing, abuse and threat of violence that trans people face every day.
Shortly after their anouncement, GLAAD’s director of transgender media, Nick Adams, called “the remarkable Elliot Page ... an inspiration to countless trans and non-binary people,” while celebrating their reinforcement that “all transgender people deserve the chance to be ourselves and to be accepted for who we are.”
What this means for the actor’s career remains to be seen, but the same could be said for the entire film and TV industry as COVID-19 makes production on largescale projects incredibly difficult. Page’s IMDb listing shows a series of voiceover duties on a handful of animated films, while their most recent success playing Vanya Hargreeves on the hit Netflix dysfunctional superhero show The Umbrella Academy is due to return for a third season when conditions permit a return to the set.
But whatever comes next for Page, it will be, to use Adams’ adjective, remarkable.