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 new documentary focusing on same-sex relationships among animals, said he hopes it challenges what people have long believed to be “natural.”
Last year, Elliot Page appeared to debut his relationship with actress Julia Shiplett, but it remains unclear what the state of their romance is.
Page got candid about the struggles he endured in his formative years, saying he had to endure shame and loneliness growing up queer.
Speaking with People Magazine to promote the new documentary “Second Nature,” the “Juno” actor expressed how he couldn’t find a place in the world for himself at the time, while also making a case for why queer representation is important.
Page narrated and produced the documentary, which aims to bring to attention the increasingly prevailing reality of same-sex marriage and gender fluidity in the animal kingdom, something that isn’t often talked about.
On why he felt the need to be a part of the project, Page said, “To really have this real, thorough investigatory piece about the reality of this information, the reality of what has been left out and what we’ve not been taught.”
“And I think that sense of growing up as a queer kid and feeling alone — ’cause you feel like you are alone, even, of course, in retrospect, you’re not — you weren’t. You feel excluded, you feel like something’s wrong with you,” he continued.
The Actor Expressed How ‘Censorship’ Makes Being Queer Difficult
Page has become a leading voice for transgender rights and LGBTQ+ visibility since coming out as a transgender man in 2020.
In his chat with the publication, the actor pointed out that while dealing with shame, it’s difficult to speak openly about being queer because of “censorship” and “erasure.”
“You’re carrying these bricks of shame, and there are such implications and consequences in terms of censorship and erasure … and this idea that nature is organized around a cis heteronormative system is just completely false,” Page said.
Elliot Page Says His New Documentary Has ‘Incredibly Valuable Information’
He then said that people will be able to learn a thing or two from the documentary.
“First of all, it’s just beautifully made. It’s entertaining. It’s funny. It’s gonna captivate you, and it’s just such incredibly valuable information. No matter who you are, no matter how you identify,” he told the news outlet.
“And I think it’s [full of] interesting facts that you can’t believe you didn’t know before, but 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.
“When I’m walking down the street, and young people come up to me, it means the world to me,” he told People Magazine in 2023. “Them being themselves, having the courage to say, ‘This is who I am, and I’m gonna live authentically.’”
At the time, he also said that he had experienced so much peace and tranquility since he came out.
“It definitely feels a way that I never thought I would get to feel, and that mostly manifests in how present I feel, the ease I feel, and the ability to exist,” he said.
The Direct Of The Documentary Speaks On ‘Learning About Queerness In Nature’
The Drew Denny-directed film profiles scientists who have researched more 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 idea 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 wrong with me.’”
“I didn’t know how badly I needed that until I read that book and finally felt like, ‘Oh, I get to be here. Like I belong on Earth, no one can kick me out because of this,’” she added.