Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of movies and TV shows including Juno, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Tales of the City, announced on Instagram Tuesday that he is transgender, sharing his new name and pronouns—he/they—with the world.
“I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life,” Page wrote on Instagram in a lengthy statement that focused primarily on the inequality that queer and trans people of colour still face.
“In 2020 alone it has been reported that at least 40 transgender people have been murdered, the majority of which were Black and Latinx trans women,” Page noted. “To the political leaders who work to criminalize trans health care and deny our right to exist and to all of those with a massive platform who continue to spew hostility towards the trans community: you have blood on your hands.” Read Page’s full statement, below:
Page’s comments on the insidious nature of transphobia and its disproportionate impact on trans women of colour is all too relevant, given the fact that actor Laverne Cox was recently the victim of a transphobic attack in Los Angeles’s Griffith Park. “It’s not safe if you’re a trans person. Obviously, I know this well. It’s just really sad,” said Cox of the attack. Hopefully, the public embrace of identities like Cox’s and Page’s will help to create a world that is easier for trans people to navigate.
This article was originally published on Vogue.com
