Actress Ellen Page publicly came out as gay Friday evening, while giving a speech at Time to THRIVE, a national LGBTQ youth conference held in Las Vegas.
"I'm here today because I am gay," Page told the assembled crowd, which responded with a standing ovation and a long chorus of cheers.
"Whoo!" said Page, before continuing:
Originally Posted by :
"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.
I also do it selfishly because I'm tired of hiding and I'm tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered, and my relationships suffered. And I'm standing here today with all of you on the other side of that pain."
Page is most famous for becoming pregnant by her awkward classmate Michael Cera, and for invading the dreams of a stranger alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, neither of which happened in real life, because she is an actress.
After her speech, the Human Rights Campaign, which organized the conference, congratulated Page on the front page of its website for "her brave decision to live openly and authentically." [Reply]
Originally Posted by SNR:
You're right. Bullying is bullying, and that's never a good thing.
And if kids used racial slurs to bully a particular ethnicity as often as they use gay slurs to bully gay kids, I think you'd agree there's a pretty big problem that needs to be more aggressively addressed outside of, "All bullying is bad and shouldn't be tolerated."
Though it goes without saying that is true, that wasn't the point I was making.
More when was the last time you saw a national buzz about an impassioned 'I'm proud to be tall' or 'I'm proud to love D&D' speech?
Outside Tony Radliff [and Chris Hardwick, I guess, though he's good looking and loquacious enough to pass], when was the last 'out and proud nerd' you saw celebrated in the culture sheerly for their nerdiness?
We had a kid commit suicide in MY HS purely over his nerdiness. He had crushes on girls, and a drive to be more athletic and cool, but was just a nice, pudgy, awkward kid. Totally out of the blue. He wasn't even really picked on, not that I saw. He just had higher aspirations than his makeup allowed.
Kind of like if that bland dude a couple cubicles over killed himself one day because he never took over and owned the company.
Worst part, his mom was a teacher and we saw daily the pain of losing him took on her. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Has she said publicly? Most recent I remember she elided big time last awards season.
Yeah, she did it at two awards shows, one more obviously than the other. Here's the one you might be referring to, and she throws out the gripe that several of us are sharing:
Originally Posted by :
"So while I’m here being all confessional, I guess I have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public. So, a declaration that I’m a little nervous about but maybe not quite as nervous as my publicist right now, huh Jennifer? But I’m just going to put it out there, right? Loud and proud, right? So I’m going to need your support on this… "I am single.”
“I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.”
She seemed to attack those in the gay media that pleaded for her to come out for all these years. “But now I’m told, apparently that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show.”
Lesbian Mom: Jodie Foster
She went on to say that, "There is no way I could ever stand here without acknowledging one of the deepest loves of my life, my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but righteous soul sister in life, my confessor, ski buddy, consigliere, most beloved BFF of 20 years, Cydney Bernard. Thank you, Cyd. I am so proud of our modern family."
Originally Posted by SNR:
You're right. Bullying is bullying, and that's never a good thing.
And if kids used racial slurs to bully a particular ethnicity as often as they use gay slurs to bully gay kids, I think you'd agree there's a pretty big problem that needs to be more aggressively addressed outside of, "All bullying is bad and shouldn't be tolerated."
Do you include in that bullying kids who say that they don't approve of homosexuality and are harassed for it? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Donger:
Do you include in that bullying kids who say that they don't approve of homosexuality and are harassed for it?
Are those kids getting harassed by their peers? Is a rainbow-colored gang going around beating up kids who are intolerant?
This is getting really ridiculous. Their "bullying" comes in the form of their being outraged that their school says it's okay to be gay. It's no different than getting "bullied" in biology class when the teacher explains what evolution is.
They're not being marginalized in the same way that thousands of kids are bullied each day for whatever reason. Let's get that straight right now (pun not intended) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Just Passin' By:
Yeah, she did it at two awards shows, one more obviously than the other. Here's the one you might be referring to, and she throws out the gripe that several of us are sharing:
I wish more of the Hollywood celebrities would take her approach, and not just on this issue.
When then I truly am applauding, slide her on over into Parsonstown. Population, classy.
I'm kind of in a weird place, chronologically, with her. To the best of my recollection, my first exposure to her was watching Silence of the Lambs in the theater and Taxi Driver in my dorm within 6mos to a year of each other [not much movies/TV in my primary education years].
Then there was her in Maverick with Mel [and their subsequent enduring friendship] and Ellen DeGeneres' 'I gotta snag a man' comedy coming out [NPI] around the same time. [Reply]
Originally Posted by SNR:
Are those kids getting harassed by their peers? Is a rainbow-colored gang going around beating up kids who are intolerant?
This is getting really ridiculous. Their "bullying" comes in the form of their being outraged that their school says it's okay to be gay. It's no different than getting "bullied" in biology class when the teacher explains what evolution is.
They're not being marginalized in the same way that thousands of kids are bullied each day for whatever reason. Let's get that straight right now (pun not intended)
Are you of the opinion that those who oppose the approval of homosexuality are NOT attacked? [Reply]
Originally Posted by SNR:
Are those kids getting harassed by their peers? Is a rainbow-colored gang going around beating up kids who are intolerant?
This is getting really ridiculous. Their "bullying" comes in the form of their being outraged that their school says it's okay to be gay. It's no different than getting "bullied" in biology class when the teacher explains what evolution is.
They're not being marginalized in the same way that thousands of kids are bullied each day for whatever reason. Let's get that straight right now (pun not intended)
Being screamed at and called a bigot and homophobe is definitely not being marginalized. It's being celebrated, really. :-) [Reply]
