Umbrella Academy star Ellen Page's inspiring and touching coming out story
Oscar-nominated actress Ellen Page famously came out in a speech at a Human Rights Campaign event in 2014, but what spurred her decision to embrace being in the LGBTQ+ community?
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Netflix's The Umbrella Academy star Ellen Page has an inspiring and moving reason why she chose to come out as gay.
The Canadian actress, 33, came out in a public speech six years ago, however, she says she had previously been outed by a colleagye.
Ellen claimed on Facebook in 2017 that she had been outed by director Brett Ratner on the set of superhero film X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006.
She wrote: "'You should f**k 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.
"I was eighteen years old. He looked at a woman standing next to me, ten years my senior, pointed to me and said: 'You should f**k her to make her realize she’s gay.' He was the film’s director, Brett Ratner."
The claim was supported by Ellen's X-Men co-star and bisexual actress Anna Paquin on Twitter, while Ratner did not comment publicly at the time.
Brett Ratner has been approached for comment by Mirror Online.
Speaking at the Human Rights Campaign's Time to Thrive conference in Las Vegas - which served to benefit LGBTQ+ youth - Ellen revealed her sexuality publicly for the first time in 2014.
She said: "I'm here today because I am gay and because maybe I can make a difference, to help others have an easier and more hopeful time.
"Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility.
"I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission."
She opened up: "I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I'm standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain."
The Juno star also admitted that the standards and expectations of Hollywood and the world she inhabits had previously added to her decision to hide her sexuality.
She admitted: "You have ideas planted in your head, thoughts you never had before that tell you how you have to act, how you have to dress and who you have to be. I have been trying to push back, to be authentic, to follow my heart, but it can be hard."
Ellen told Time back in 2015 that it was both a personal decision and also being influenced by working on gay rights drama Freeheld with Julianne Moore.
"It was my own internal journey—for the most part it was separate from all of this. But when you read Stacie and Laurel’s story, and you know you’re going to tell it, you think, “There’s no way you cannot be an actively out gay person if you make this film.”"
She added that she was inspired by the "courage" shown in a Pussy Riot documentary and felt it was important for her to speak out and publicly embrace her sexuality.
"It kind of got to the point of - I felt guilty, to be honest with you, and I believe I absolutely should have. It’s become kind of a moral imperative to speak up."
The actress made clear, however, that she did not want to be called "brave" for what she saw as a vital move to make.
Since coming out publicly, Ellen went on to have a romantic relationship with dancer and choreographer Emma Portner.
Ellen and Emma married in January 2018 and celebrated their second anniversary earlier this year and live in New York City.
Emma had been approached by Ellen after she saw her on Instagram, according to The Cut.
Since she came out, Ellen has also played multiple Queer roles, including in romantic film My Days of Mercy opposite Kate Mara and the Netflix revival of classic LGBTQ+ drama series Tales of the City.
Fans of Ellen can now catch her as the rather sexually ambiguous Vanya Hargreeves in the second season of Netflix hit The Umbrella Academy.
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