Today a world famous actor came our as trans, and I cried. I didn’t cry because of the beautiful joy and vulnerability he showed when he announced this, though I do recommend reading it. I’m not crying because of any backlash to their coming out, so far I haven’t seen any. I cried because it’s so rare to find trans joy in news or mainstream media.
I no longer cry at transphobia or trans trauma online or in the media. To survive in this world I (like many trans people) numb myself to that pain. But this scrap of joyful news, and the knowledge that Elliot Page is too influential to be simply brushed aside, tore through me.
We have so few public trans icons, and of those even fewer are trans men/trans masculine. And I know there will be so many people around the world who will see Elliot come out, and learn something new. Either about the wonderful gender diversity of the world we live in, or about themselves.
And perhaps if they continue their role in Umbrella Academy we’ll see a show adapt to an actors personal circumstances, as they sometimes do with pregnancy. Perhaps we’ll see a story respectfully exploring trans identity in a show with a broad audience.
I doubt Elliot Page will ever read this. But if they did I would want to say the same thing I do to any baby trans. Welcome to the community. There are people here who will love you, accept you, and see you as the person you are. And we’re so glad you found your way here.
Trans Joy is a blog series celebrating the positive side of trans experiences, in an attempt to bring some balance to contemporary trans discourses. If you want to contribute to this project then please get in touch. If you want to support the project you can order a zine here.