Actress Ellen Page comes out as gay woman in Las Vegas

Born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ellen Page, 26-year-old, worked in Canadian television before making her first apparance in thriller Hard Candy in 2005.

She then played Shadowcat in X-Men: The Last Stand.

But it was her breakout performance as the pregnant teen Juno that catapulted her to international fame.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and a Bafta for this performance.

She also starred in Inception alongside to Leonardo Di Caprio and she will be soon on the big screen in X-Men: Days of Future Past alongside to Jennifer Lawrence.

Page made the announcement in a deeply and emotional 8 minutes address at Time to THRIVE, a Human Rights Campaign conference to promote the welfare of LGBT (lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual or queer )  youth held at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

With her voice cracking at times, the actress spoke of the pain she endured while hiding her sexuality.

On several occasions members of the audience broke out in applause and rose to their feet.

“I’m here today because I am gay,”  she told the audience “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, 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. It’s weird because here I am, an actress, representing (at least in some sense) an industry that places crushing standards on all of us. Not just young people, but everyone. Standards of beauty. Of a good life. Of success. Standards that, I hate to admit, have affected me”.

And  now, if we think about her character  in Woody Allen‘s To Rome with Love, we can see how she sent the same message of pain two years ago, a message that went unheard.

In Allen’s movie, Page is Monica, a young actress confused about her sexuality and a victim in the Hollywood world that, as far as she tries to get away from it, is never strong enough.

She then spoke about examples of courage like football hero Michael Sam, Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox and musicians Tegan and Sara Quin for their contributions to furthering LGBT visibility and pride.

Ellen Page will appear in indie drama Freeheld, starring opposite Julianne Moore as a gay couple whose pension benefits are frozen after one is diagnosed with a terminal disease. The movie, based on true facts, also stars Zach Galifianakis.

Ellen Page Comes Out full speech