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Elliot Page calls out people's obsession with the gender binary

23 June 2022, 17:16

Elliot Page calls out people’s obsession with the gender binary

By Sam Prance

Elliot Page also opened up about transphobia he's experienced since coming out as trans.

The Umbrella Academy's Elliot Page has criticised the gender binary and the ways in which it puts limits on us all as people.

In 2020, Elliot Page publicly came out as trans. Taking to Instagram, Elliot released a statement in which he said: "Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot. I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life." Elliot's Umbrella Academy character has also since come out as trans.

Now, Elliot has opened up about transphobia that they've experienced and why they take issue with the gender binary.

Elliot Page calls out people's obsession with the gender binary. Picture: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images, @elliotpage via Instagram

In a new interview on Late Night with Seth Myers, Seth asked Elliot if the people close to him in his real-life were supportive of him when he came out as trans and Elliot confirmed that they were. He explained: "Yeah. Absolutely. I feel really grateful for that. Most people weren't surprised. It was something I'd been talking about with a lot of people in my life."

Seth then asked Elliot how he's dealt with negative reactions and transphobia from strangers. In response, Elliot said: "What I want to focus on right now, and it's been so extraordinary, is the degree of joy that I feel, the degree of presence that I feel. I feel a way that I really never thought possible for a long, long time. That's what I'm embracing the most."

They added: "But, of course, moments can be overwhelming. I feel like it's one of those things where it's so unfortunate cause we're all on the same team here. Whether you're trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming, cis... we all have these expectations, sort of limits, constraints, cause of people's obsession with the binary and how we're supposed to live our lives."

Elliot ended by saying: "For me, it would be so special for us to all be able to connect and talk about how similar we are in all of our journeys."

Elliot Page opens up about Viktor coming out as trans in The Umbrella Academy

Elsewhere in the interview, Seth asked Elliot if coming out as trans has made him a better actor. In response, Elliot said: "It does, everything does. And yeah that's a big component of my life. A lot of time my life was just trying to move forward. I think it's made me better in so many facets as a person, as a friend, in relationships."