Transgender The Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen Page, has made the claim that the rights of LGBTQ individuals people are being invalidated, without providing a single piece of evidence to back the narrative she’s trying to push.
Introducing the humanitarian award for pop duo Tegan and Sara, conformed by twins Tegan and Sara Quin, during this year’s Juno Awards, Page claimed, “We are at a time in history where the rights of LGBTQ2+ people are being revoked, restricted and eliminated throughout the world, and the effects are devastating.”
Also failing to provide evidence to back her claims, Sara Quin would go on to add, “If the world was not so hostile to LGBTQ2+ people, we would see ourselves purely as musicians,” further noting, “Advocating for our community’s rights is a great privilege and we are dedicated to confronting any form of discrimination that threatens the well-being of our community.”
Opposing transgender ideology seems to revoke more rights in Page’s native Canada than she may be willing to admit. In April of 2023, 17-year-old student Josh Alexander filed a human rights complaint against St. Joseph’s High School in Renfrew, Ontario after the Catholic school suspended him in November of 2022 for organizing a walkout at the school to decry biological males entering girls’ bathrooms.
Alexander would later be arrested in February of 2023, a month after the suspension had been lifted, for trespassing — following the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board’s decision to “exclude” the 17-year-old Christian student from the remainder of the school year.
“I have just been arrested and charged at my Catholic highschool for attending class after being excluded for indicating my intent to adhere to my religious beliefs,” he posted at the time, sharing an image that captured the moment he was escorted out of school premises.
Earlier this month, Page was also making headlines, as she said LGBTQ films were not “niche,” citing a recent survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, which reportedly found that 28% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ in America.
Per the survey, “Gen Z adults are significantly more likely than older generations to identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or something else, with 28% identifying as LGBTQ, compared with 16% of millennials, 7% of Generation X, 4% of baby boomers, and 4% of the Silent Generation,” further specifying, “Gen Z teens were not asked about LGBTQ identification.”
During an appearance at the BFI Flare LGBTQ film festival in London last week, Variety reports, Page declared, “30% of young people identify as LGBTQ. So I’m sorry, but this is not niche.”
Page, who came out as gay in February of 2014 and as transgender in December of 2020, would also go on to recall her experience coming out as trans to The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman, recounting, “Steve was actually one of the first people I came out to.”
“So we all collaborated about how to do it. And luckily Steve really listened and we tried to handle it in a way that’s not not emotional, but doesn’t have to be a big drama,” she added, going on to talk about transgender representation.
Page declared, “I hate that I have to say this because it should not be the case, and we should have lots of trans actors. But I feel really lucky that I’ve gone through what I’ve gone through and still get to be here and make things.”
While the former X-Men star currently advocates for the rights of the perpetually victimized LGBTQ community, it wasn’t long ago that Page identified as a feminist fighting for women’s rights — a movement that finds itself constantly at odds with transgender ideology.
“I don’t know why people are so reluctant to say they’re feminists, Page said in a 2013 interview with The Guardian. “Maybe some women just don’t care. But how could it be any more obvious that we still live in a patriarchal world when feminism is a bad word?”
She would later add, “Feminism always gets associated with being a radical movement – good. It should be. A lot of what the radical feminists [in the 1970s] were saying, I don’t disagree with it.”
Page would double down on her self-proclaimed feminism in 2016. In yet another interview with The Guardian, the Juno star declared, “The thing that I would say you get the most hate about, on social media, in my experience, is if you tweet anything about women’s rights or feminism. It blows my mind.”
“But it’s the thought of not being a feminist that actually blows my mind,” she clarified. “I feel that, at least now, there seem to be more women who are willing to say, ‘Yes, I’m a feminist.’ It’s shocking to me that that would ever be an issue, to not say that. I really struggle to wrap my head around that.”
Even more interesting is the fact that Page would go on to share her views on gender pay gaps within the film industry, specifically in Hollywood, as she reacted to an article titled “Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co‑Stars?” written by Jennifer Lawrence.
“The issue is also about how many female writers there are, female directors, even female soundtrack composers,” Page asserted at the time. “I just mean, pretty much every facet of this industry. In my circle of friends, it’s something we talk about all the time. And I feel like there’s finally a conversation happening.”
The former X-Men star’s gender pay gap may no longer be an issue, since she has seemingly not spoken out regarding women’s rights since her transition. Ever since, Page has already played a man in the gay drama Close to You and will also be playing a man when The Umbrella Academy returns for its fourth season later this year.