“I’m here today because I am gay,” she told a conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in Las Vegas.
“And because … maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility.”
In an honest, personal and emotionally moving speech, the 26-year-old actress spoke about the personal torment she endured as a result of being “scared to be out”.
“I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain. I am young, yes, but what I have learned is that love, the beauty of it, the joy of it and yes, even the pain of it, is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.”
The speech took place at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s inaugural Time to Thrive conference, which promotes safety, inclusion and well-being for LGBTQ youth. The Q stands for questioning.
Page told the audience that she was there as “an actress, representing – at least in some sense – an industry that places crushing standards on all of us”.
“Standards of beauty. Of a good life. Of success. Standards that, I hate to admit, have affected me.”
Photo: WireImage
Photo: WireImage
Photo: WireImage
“Sometimes it’s the little, insignificant stuff that can tear you down. I try not to read gossip as a rule, but the other day a website ran an article with a picture of me wearing sweatpants on the way to the gym. The writer asked, ‘Why does [this] petite beauty insist upon dressing like a massive man?’
“Because I like to be comfortable. There are pervasive stereotypes about masculinity and femininity that define how we are all supposed to act, dress and speak. They serve no one. Anyone who defies these so-called ‘norms’ becomes worthy of comment and scrutiny. The LGBT community knows this all too well.”
The publication responsible for the article is E! Online, which has since deleted the relevant web page.
In 2007, Page was thrust into the global spotlight following her starring role in the hit film Juno where she played a pregnant teenager and earned an Oscar nomination.
Page’s speech also praised others who have taken similar steps to come out publically, such as American football player Michael Sam, who by announcing he was gay this month could become the American National Football League’s first openly homosexual player.
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