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 Brainiac: The most vocal and harshly critical gay bashers often turn out be closet homosexuals who are desperately trying to prove to themselves and others how "straight" they are.
I think we are seeing some of that in this thread.
I've never seen any evidence that that's really true. Anecdotally, I've known several gay people and I can't remember a single one of them who was a harsh critic before coming out. I've heard a lot of people, including some of my gay friends, say that though and I always assumed it was just a way of poking at someone in a spot that the poker knows will hurt. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ping2000:
Almost as bad as the people who jump up and down and go overboard when someone announces they are gay so people won't think they are homophobic. Reminds me of the people who say "I have a lot of black friends."
Sometimes when people say they have a black friend, they actually do have a black friend. I doubt that most real racists actually have black friends and I doubt that most of them say they do. [Reply]
Originally Posted by patteeu:
I've never seen any evidence that that's really true. Anecdotally, I've known several gay people and I can't remember a single one of them who was a harsh critic before coming out. I've heard a lot of people, including some of my gay friends, say that though and I always assumed it was just a way of poking at someone in a spot that the poker knows will hurt.
