“ I never thought I could see this , the joy I feel in my body . I am so grateful for what sex affirming care has allow me . ”
Elliot Pageis celebrating“trans joy”in a candid new Instagram post.
Elliotcame out as transgenderin December 2020. Sharing a heartfelt statement on hisTwitterandInstagrampages, 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.”
He continued, “I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self.”
Elliot added, “I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive.”
Elliot’s statement was met with heaps of support, and ever since coming out, he has continued to be super open and transparent about his journey.
Last year, for example, Elliot opened up about beingforced to wear a dressat the press events of his 2007 movieJuno, in which he portrayed the titular character at just 20 years old.
“WhenJunowas at the height of its popularity, during awards-season time, I was closeted, dressed in heels and the whole look,” he wrote in an essay forEsquirelast June. “I wasn’t okay, and I didn’t know how to talk about that with anyone.”
He elaborated, “I said I wanted to wear a suit, and Fox Searchlight was basically like, ‘No, you need to wear a dress.'”
He wrote, “They had me wear a dress, and…that was that. And then all theJunopress, all the photo shoots — Michael Cera was in slacks and sneakers.”
“It’s easy for people to roll their eyes, but you know what? No. That was really extremely, extremely fucked up,” he said before later adding, “I wish people would understand that that shit literally did almost kill me.”
Now Elliot is opening up further about his past struggle with gender dysphoria, which is the feeling of unease and frustration people feel due to a mismatch between the sex they were assigned at birth and their gender identity.
Sharing a shirtless photo to Instagram in which he proudly displayed his chest scars, Elliot wrote, “Dysphoria used to be especially rife in the summer. No layers, just a T-shirt - or layers and oh so sweaty - constantly looking down, readjusting my oversized T.”
He went on to say, “It feels so f’ing good soaking in the sun now,” before admitting that he “never thought” he’d be able to experience the joy that he now feels in his body.
“I never thought I could experience this, the joy I feel in my body,” he wrote. “I am so grateful for what gender affirming care has allowed me and I look forward to sharing more of my journey soon. #transjoy.”
Meanwhile, other Instagram users praised Elliot for continuing to use his platform to be “open and vulnerable” about his journey.
“So happy for you and the light you are spreading. Everyone deserves joy and to live as their authentic self and to feel at home in their body,” one comment read.
Another read, “these words will help so many dude. Thank you for what you do with your platform- being open and vulnerable, keeping our loved ones going.”
