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 Carlota69:
So you don't think truly being proud of who you are, after growing up In a society that tells you you are not equal, you don't deserve the same rights we do, God hates you, you could,lose your family and friends, your career, you could be beaten and the perpetrators would barely be slapped on the wrists, you are told you are bad parents and the last goes on, if you are gay, isnt much of an accomplishment??? That takes a whole lot of mental strength and therapy to be proud of who you are when you are gay. To be proud is quite the accomplishment because the gays I know, have a lot of internal homophobia and addiction problems. Like drinking to kill the pain of not being "normal", and in the end, they kill themselves.
Maybe they say it out loud, so young gays can grow up Ina different environment, and hopefully become proud of who they are sooner than the old generation.
People get told all of those things throughout life for all sorts of reasons.
Seriously. Cry in another bowl of milk about it.
Everyone has hardships and struggled for different reasons. People coming out shouldn't be celebrated as some form of courage or triumph. Great, you like someone of the same sex to sleep with.
Originally Posted by Donger:
Like I said, it's not an accomplishment. It's just who they are. I can see some of the logic of being proud to announce their sexuality to the world (kind of), but not "I'm gay and I'm proud of it!"
Graduating from Harvard? Sure, that's an accomplishment.
Winning a playoff game? Yes.
Getting a promotion at work.
Getting into Harvard is the key. Graduating is a mere formality afterwards. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Carlota69:
And statements like that are part of the reason why it's an accomplishment for gays to be proud of who they are. When you say that, you are saying you are less than and unworthy.
You can't fight biology. Everyone is unequal to some degree or another. For example, I can't dance worth shit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by patteeu:
"I'm proud of it" doesn't mean "I've accomplished something" in this context. It means "I'm not ashamed of the fact that I'm gay" and it's probably more about speaking to others who are afraid to come out and offering to be a role model for them than it is about anything self-focused.
Originally Posted by keg in kc:
While I'm not gay, I would imagine the so-called pride comes from acknowledging something you've spent so much of your life hiding. The embarrassment is gone, the guilt is gone, the self-recrimination is gone. You can just be you, finally, and it probably feels pretty ****ing good.
As far as "equality" goes, I'm not sure what sexuality has to do with that, any more than race or gender. People are more than walking genitalia.
So if a guy was suffering from micro penis and comes out about it, everyone should talk about what a hero he is?
It's always a great day when we can be shamed for not vigorously defending someone's decision to tell the world that they live a deviant lifestyle. Now, let's go verbally beat the shit out of anyone who's not 100% behind necrophilia! [Reply]
Originally Posted by Donger:
Meh, I've gone over it enough. I don't really want to do it all over again. If you want, go into the DC thread about Michaels.
I think I'll pass on venturing into that cesspool. Your bullshit here is enough of a glimpse for me. [Reply]
