Photo:Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images
Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images
Elliot Pageis discussing a frightening experience he had last year.
In an interview with theLos Angeles Timespublished Sunday, theUmbrella Academystar talked about one of the darker moments he details in his newly released memoir,Pageboy.
“ ‘I’m going to f—ing gay bash you, f—–,’ ” the man threatened as a terrified Page ran inside the store to employees for help. “This is why I need a gun!” the man yelled.
“Now when I’m in Los Angeles, I don’t feel comfortable like I used to going for walks,” Page told theTimes.
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The Canadian-born actor and activist discussed the self-hatred he initially felt while repressing his true self. TheJunostarcame out as gay in 2014, then in a powerful statement on Instagram,came out as transgenderin December 2020.
“You don’t have to feel this way,“said a voice inside him, which appeared to become an inner mantra fighting its way to the surface.
Then in a powerful statement on Instagram, theJunostarcame out as transgenderin December 2020, one month after having top surgery.
“It was as if something in my brain turned around,” Page recalled to theTimes. “The agonizing voice saying, ‘No, you’re not,’ ‘No, you can’t’ just switched and became very gentle and loving. ‘Oh, maybe I’m trans. Why don’t I explore that?’ ”
Though some of his personal experiences have been difficult, Page also acknowledged his “privilege” as the LGBTQ+ community fightsanti-trans and anti-gay legislationin many states.
“I’m such a rare example of what it means to be trans,” Page shared. “I’m just in this strange position where it’s like, yeah, my journey has really not been easy. At moments, I thought: ‘I don’t know what my future is. I don’t know if I see it.’ But I also just have this amount of privilege that so many trans people do not get.”
Currently PEOPLE’sPride cover star, Page expressed that he also has more joyful encounters while out and about.
“When I’m walking down the street, and young people come up to me, it means the world to me,” he told PEOPLE. “Them being themselves, having the courage to say, ‘This is who I am, and I’m gonna live authentically.’”
“The privilege I have, does not represent thereality of most trans lives,” added Page. “The reality is trans people disproportionately are unemployed, disproportionately experience homelessness. Trans women of color are being murdered. People are losing their healthcare.”
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While shining a light on some of the more horrific experiences people are going through, he is not discounting his own journey: “I do feel like I barely made it in many ways.”
Overall,Page still feels proud to be able towalk with his “shoulders back.”
“I think we talk about ‘trans joy’ and euphoria,” Page added to PEOPLE. “So much of it is in the stillness. To have my shoulders back. I just was always kind of shut off, anxious. I used to never feel like my skin was my own.”
Pageboyis available now onamazon.com.
source: people.com
