Elliot Page proudly came out as a trans man in December 2020. Now he makes history as the first transgender man to grace the cover of Time and has opened up about his coming out experience.
In an article for Time titled, “Elliot Page Is Ready for This Moment,” Elliot Page discussed his experience as coming out as transgender and the steps that lead to him making a public statement about his gender identity. This is the first time Elliot has spoken at length about the challenges he faced while being in the public eye and struggling with his gender.
Elliot revealed that he expected that his announcement about his gender identity would be met with mixed emotions. “What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia,” he said. “That’s essentially what happened.” When Elliot publically came out in December 2020 through an Instagram post, the world was shocked.
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The post was met with delight from fans that the star was finally happy in his own skin. However, the post also attracted negative comments from transphobic individuals who felt the need to share their disapproval.
Elliot did not predict how huge his coming out would be. The post gained millions of likes, and the actor gained hundreds of thousands of new followers in one day alone. The actor also gained the attention of casting directors who wanted to include Elliot in their new projects.
The Juno star revealed that these positive reactions were by no means compensated by the years of difficulty and shame that Elliot experienced before he felt comfortable enough to be himself. In the interview, Elliot said, “I just never recognized myself. For a long time, I could not even look at a photo of myself.”
He went on to say that he suffered from depression and anxiety at this time and although coming out as gay helped him feel more like himself, this was not the answer. “The difference in how I felt before coming out as gay to after was massive,” Elliot said. “But did the discomfort in my body ever go away? No, no, no, no.”
Elliot revealed that after years of “shame and discomfort,” he finally had a revelation during the Pandemic and had the strength to come out. “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 Elliot.
He continued to say, “I was finally able to embrace being transgender and letting myself fully become who I am."
