HomophobiaEllen Page 1-Year Before Identifying as Elliot Page: "I was distinctly told, by people in the industry, when I started to become known: ‘People cannot know you’re gay.’"

submitted by yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries" from cosmopolitan.com

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[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries"[S] 31 insightful - 1 fun31 insightful - 0 fun32 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

This article is from 2019. In December 2020, Ellen told the world that she was "trans", would go by Elliot, and use he/they pronouns (basically, anything but "she"). I am sharing this because I hate how the general public erases the history of homophobia that has surrounded and shaped Page's career. Ellen Page was long speculated to be gay by the press and by those in the industry. She was not celebrated for it and it took her years to come out publicly as a lesbian due to the shame and the pressure on her career to not be gay.

She spent more time being subject to gay rumors and people openly mocking her as gay and in the closet than she did as an out lesbian. She came out as gay in 2014. In 2017, she alleged that on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006 when she was 18, she was subject to homophobic sexual harassment by director Brett Ratner:

“You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay." He said this about me during a cast and crew "meet and greet" before we began filming, X Men: The Last Stand. . . He looked at a woman standing next to me, ten years my senior, pointed to me and said: "You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay."

Source Page's account was verified by other cast members who were present. This is how she was treated as a suspected lesbian. She did not come out as gay until 8 years later just before her 27th birthday, and she was not celebrated in the same way Elliot Page has been. Page had a number of high profile and critically acclaimed roles, but these were before she came out as gay. Her career stalled afterwards. Most of Page's roles since coming out as a lesbian, she produced herself, and I can't see any career that Elliot Page has other than in being a trans person.

It's a disturbing trajectory. And because "deadnaming" and making any reference to a trans-identifying person's past is treated as a mortal sin/hate crime, the pervasive homophobia that has plagued Page is being written out of history. It's hard to watch. I wish Page peace and health, not hate or mockery.

[–]Elvira95Viva la figa 29 insightful - 1 fun29 insightful - 0 fun30 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Hollywood is homophobe but pretend to be openminded

[–]Datachost 22 insightful - 4 fun22 insightful - 3 fun23 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

Green is the only colour of the rainbow they care about

[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries"[S] 19 insightful - 1 fun19 insightful - 0 fun20 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Very true. Homosexuality in Hollywood is viewed as not marketable. Aside from a few people, high profile actors and singers marketed to have wide appeal who actually date the same sex tend to have their same-sex relationships obscured and sometimes even covered with fake relationships with members of the opposite sex. Meanwhile people come out left and right as queer/LGBTQ/bisexual/pansexual and then either continue to exclusively date the opposite sex or any same-sex relationships they may have are hidden. The paparazzi and social media are used as tools to facilitate this nouveau-closeting and image of functional heterosexuality.

[–]insomniahurts 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

For real. I think Neil Patrick Harris succeeded in not getting his entire career plummet after coming out in 2006 because he played an extreme caricature of a straigh man so convincingly, most people didn't even know, belive or care he is gay. It seems you have to really have that wide appeal to the masses and an already blooming career and all the connections that come with it, to not have producers and casting agents not drop you. Good luck to all new faces in coming out as exclusively homosexual if they don't want to be typecast as "the gay guy/the lesbian" for the rest of their career.

And what you said about coming out as "queer/lgbtq/bi/pan" and then dating opposite sex is so true. You can come out as word soup as long as you don't act on it by actually dating the same sex.

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

They blame the rest of the country, but you're right. It's them.

[–]Femaleisnthateful 16 insightful - 1 fun16 insightful - 0 fun17 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'm surprised Cosmo hasn't buried this article.

Seriously, it's clear where Page's mental health issues stem from. It's sad to read her claiming to want to help other people struggling with their sexuality, and years later re-invent herself as anything but a woman and lesbian. I would love for someone to ask her if she still considers herself to be 'same-sex attracted'.

[–]reluctant_commenter 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I appreciate you posting about this and respecting the clear role that homophobia has played in her life. Sometimes I see people on this forum bash her for seeming shallow, but it seems so obvious that there was a ton of negative pressure on her to not come out and it really damaged her career. How unfair is it that if we come out, it ruins our careers? Straight people can virtue signal right and left about how it's "okay" to come out now, but there are so many examples like this where it really did ruin the career and/or relationships of the person who came out.

It crushes me to see Ellen's example in particular, just because I have related to her for a long time, I'm GNC to a similar degree as she was after coming out (before identifying as transgender) and I thought it was so cool to see someone I could actually relate to in the media, I could never really relate to many of the other lesbian or otherwise LGB high-profile actors/politicians/famous people. Now her actions are sending the message that if you're LGB and GNC, you need to transition or else people won't accept you how you are. It's so sad.

Anyway. Thanks for the post.

[–]ImSuperCerial 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought she came out as a lesbian nearly a decade ago.

[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries"[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I posted the timeline of relevant events in a comment on this post. Ellen came out as gay in 2014. Ellen spent more time in Hollywood being closeted and subjected to pervasive homophobia within the industry and press than she did as an out lesbian before “coming out” as Elliot and trans in 2020. And as of 2019, when this article was published, in this article Ellen was clearly still identifying as a gay woman who had been subjected to homophobia.

TL;DR: From 2006 or earlier through 2014, Ellen was subjected to homophobic harassment while closeted. Between 2014 and 2019/2020 Ellen was out as a lesbian in Hollywood. And from 2020 to the present, Ellen started identifying as Elliot and trans, not gay.

[–]Akemi_Homura 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'm really sorry, but it's equally probable this is just Ellan Page playing another victim performance act, which she seems to enjoy so much.

Once she was "bravely" a lesbian, now she is trans. In couple years she will be something altogether different, depending on the mood of the time. Who knows, maybe she'll end up as an evangelical Christian? Given the type of person she seems to be even that is not out of question.

[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries"[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I see a lot of obvious and relatable human pain that I’m not willing to erase from the narrative. You are welcome to on your end, but I think there is a lot of room for compassion here, especially from me as a fellow lesbian.

[–]DimDroog 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'm having a hard time summing up any sympathy for Hollywood actors.

The industry is rotten as a puss filled pimple.

[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries"[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It’s hard to remember they’re human beings because Hollywood presents them as anything but human. But we all only have so much attention and sympathy to spread around, and celebrities are not high priorities on my list either other than the very public examples they become of prominent societal issues.

Also, I work in an industry filled with narcissists too tbh.