The Courage of Elliot Page

When we lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, our three children were tweens to teens and attended different middle and high schools. They had active social lives and friends came and went from our home. We found out several years after we left that one of them was Ellen Page, at that time an aspiring actor. When she achieved fame as a star of the hit film Juno our daughters mentioned that she had been in our basement, a surprise to us. 

We paid attention when she went on to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception and more recently in The Umbrella Academy, a superhero series on Netflix. If you look for the cast of these shows you'll find "Elliot Page" rather than Ellen, because just a few days ago he declared himself as transgender, the "T" in LGBTQ2. Elliot has always been thoughtful and bold in speaking his mind, and this was certainly a brave step, even though society has become more accepting. Her letter to the world identifies the freedom which comes from being his true self, and the recognition that transgender persons experience condemnation and rejection. Here is a portion of that open letter:

My joy is real, but it is also fragile. The truth is, despite feeling profoundly happy right now, and knowing how much privilege I carry, I’m also scared. I’m scared of the invasiveness, the hate, the ‘jokes,’ and of violence. To be clear, I am not trying to dampen a moment that is joyous and one that I celebrate, but I also want to address the full picture. The statistics are staggering. The discrimination towards trans people is rife...

It has been more than 17 years since we left Halifax and as I think back I wonder who I would have responded if then-Ellen had come out as transgender. I was fully in support of the United Church stance on the acceptance of gays and lesbians, but we really weren't talking much about transgender persons in the life of the church at that time, .

Since then there were at least two members of congregations I served who were transgender, one of whom patiently talked through his decision to transition, which I appreciated. And we know of a couple of households of friends where young people are choosing to embrace their identities with all the challenges this entails. 

Today my desire is to support anyone whose  seeks to be true to themselves and who want to know that they are accepted and loved by God. I'm of an age where I am somewhat perplexed at times, in no small part because of the era in which I grew up. But this isn't about me, and I've concluded that my Christian faith isn't authentic if it's based on condemnation and rejection. 

I'm interested to see that the cast for the third season of The Umbrella Academy will include Elliot. Perhaps we are getting somewhere.I wish Elliot well. 

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                                                     Elliot Page as Vanya in The Umbrella Academy

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