Actor and activist Elliot Page offered guidance to a parent and slammed the Alberta government Sunday at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.
Page, who stars Umbrella Academy A father asked him for advice about “everything that’s going on right now,” how to talk to his son about gender identity.
“I’m so sorry for what you’re going through,” Page said. “As a parent, that must be very challenging, painful and scary.
“I guess for me,” she added, “it’s about solidarity and community. You connect with other parents, you connect with other allies, and you confront the nonsense that’s coming right now. And you love your child, and clearly you “. do and support it.”
Page criticized Alberta’s policies on trans rights and reiterated what he said at Junos 2024.
“First of all, it’s horrible. It’s harmful, it comes from misinformation about health care, our lives, who we are,” Page said. “These are policies that go against the advice of the Alberta medical association (Alberta Health Services) and the Canadian Pediatric Society .
“Seriously, this has a serious impact on people’s lives, (like) the father you just saw and his son and all the individuals who are just trying to live their lives and thrive and grow in safe environments.”
Page also reflected on the challenges he faced growing up in Nova Scotia.
“The first time I tried to talk about my sexuality at 15, my mother, who is now so supportive and amazing, yelled at me that ‘that doesn’t exist!'” Page said. “So to forcibly reveal children to their parents, to take away any kind of ability to be themselves, especially when it’s not supported by medical institutions, that’s… it’s atrocious. “It’s horrible.”
The audience responded with loud applause.
Inspiration
During a question and answer session at the event, hosted by social media expert Mike Morrison, two trans fans stood up and thanked Page for being an inspiration.
“Thank you too, because I am sure that being yourself inspires many people in your life and allows me to live mine too,” he said. “We are all in this together”.
The page was recently recognized by Time Magazine as one of the most influential people of 2024.
Elliot (memoir) Page “ultimately landed at a time when conservatives were threatening, as they still do, the bodily autonomy and self-determination of trans people,” Raquel Willis wrote. “But Elliot is unfazed, dropping the shield of his platform and its privilege and defending the efforts of grassroots activists like the Gen Z-led Trans Prom at the US Capitol. In everything he does, Elliot is aware that his truth and his power serve as a light in which others can see their own.”
Last month, Page criticized the rollback of LGBTQ2+ rights in Canada on stage at the Juno Awards.
“We are at a moment in history where the rights of LGBTQ2+ people are being revoked, restricted and eliminated around the world, and the effects are devastating,” Page said before presenting a humanitarian award to former Calgarians Tegan and Sara for the work of her foundation for 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
Page also described what it was like playing a trans character in Umbrella Academy who was transitioning at the same time Page was transitioning in real life.
“For me, it all ended up making sense in that journey that I went on simultaneously with that character, but it was something quite extraordinary,” he said. “It obviously meant a lot to me.”
They also asked him when he is misunderstood.
“Oh, God,” he said. “My answer is, when it’s very obvious that someone has slipped up or you know when it’s unintentional or whatever, that’s fine!
“It’s happened a couple of times when people come and you want to say ‘don’t leave feeling bad.’
“It’s really good,” he added. “Maybe some people might think it’s too lenient or something, but especially knowing that I’ve been in people’s consciousness for some time that it may be an adjustment.”
Page also talked about filming. Beginning in Kananaskis Country in Alberta, saying it was difficult because he doesn’t do well at high altitudes: He fainted while filming a scene in the mountains.
With files from Teri Fikowski