Elliot Page got vulnerable as he opened up about how he experienced debilitating “shame” and loneliness while growing up as queer.
The “Umbrella Academy” actor, who worked on a brand new documentary specializing in same-sex relationships amongst animals, said he hopes it challenges what people have long believed to be “natural.”
Last 12 months, Elliot Page appeared to debut his relationship with actress Julia Shiplett, however it stays unclear what the state of their romance is.
Page got candid in regards to the struggles he endured in his adolescence, saying he needed to endure shame and loneliness growing up queer.
Speaking with People Magazine to advertise the brand new documentary “Second Nature,” the “Juno” actor expressed how he couldn’t discover a place on the earth for himself on the time, while also making a case for why queer representation is essential.
Page narrated and produced the documentary, which goals to bring to attention the increasingly prevailing reality of same-sex marriage and gender fluidity within the animal kingdom, something that isn’t often talked about.
On why he felt the should be a component of the project, Page said, “To essentially have this real, thorough investigatory piece in regards to the reality of this information, the truth of what has been overlooked and what we’ve not been taught.”
“And I believe that sense of growing up as a queer kid and feeling alone — ’cause you’re feeling like you might be alone, even, in fact, on reflection, you’re not — you weren’t. You’re feeling excluded, you’re feeling like something’s mistaken with you,” he continued.
The Actor Expressed How ‘Censorship’ Makes Being Queer Difficult
Page has turn out to be a number one voice for transgender rights and LGBTQ+ visibility since coming out as a transgender man in 2020.
In his chat with the publication, the actor identified that while coping with shame, it’s difficult to talk openly about being queer due to “censorship” and “erasure.”
“You’re carrying these bricks of shame, and there are such implications and consequences when it comes to censorship and erasure … and this concept that nature is organized around a cis heteronormative system is just completely false,” Page said.
Elliot Page Says His Recent Documentary Has ‘Incredibly Useful Information’
He then said that individuals will have the opportunity to learn a thing or two from the documentary.
“Initially, it’s just beautifully made. It’s entertaining. It’s funny. It’s gonna captivate you, and it’s just such incredibly invaluable information. Regardless of who you might be, regardless of the way you discover,” he told the news outlet.
“And I believe it’s [full of] interesting facts which you can’t imagine you didn’t know before, however it’s also the ripple effect of conversation that comes from watching this,” he continued.
“What are the impacts of censorship, and what are the impacts of censorship on art and science and all facets of our society?” Page added.
The Actor Hopes To Help The Trans Cause
Page has previously spoken about how he hopes coming out and sharing his own journey will help bring more visibility to the trans community and push their cause.
“Once I’m walking down the road, and young people come as much as me, it means the world to me,” he told People Magazine in 2023. “Them being themselves, having the courage to say, ‘That is who I’m, and I’m gonna live authentically.’”
On the time, he also said that he had experienced a lot peace and tranquility since he got here out.
“It definitely feels a way that I never thought I might get to feel, and that mostly manifests in how present I feel, the convenience I feel, and the power to exist,” he said.
The Direct Of The Documentary Speaks On ‘Learning About Queerness In Nature’
The Drew Denny-directed film profiles scientists who’ve researched greater than 1,500 animal species that engage in same sex sexual behavior and parenting, while also calling attention to how this phenomenon is widely underreported in contemporary science and research.
Denny, who also grew up queer, noted that she first got wind of the concept while reading ecologist and evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden’s 2004 book “Evolution’s Rainbow” several years ago.
“Learning about queerness in nature, and learning about matriarchal lesbian bonobos, and sex-changing fish, and gender-queer chimps, it’s what did it for me,” Denny said, per People. “It’s what flipped the switch finally to being like, ‘Oh, like, there isn’t anything mistaken with me.’”
“I didn’t know the way badly I needed that until I read that book and at last felt like, ‘Oh, I get to be here. Like I belong on Earth, nobody can kick me out for this reason,’” she added.