Tag Archives: Emma Portner

Oscar-Nominated Elliot Page, Start of ‘Juno’ and ‘Umbrella Academy’, Comes Out as Transgender

Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of Juno and Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, has announced he is transgender.

Elliot, formerly known as Ellen Page, addressed his social media followers saying:

“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. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey. I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self. I’ve been endlessly inspired by so many in the trans community. Thank you for your courage, your generosity and ceaselessly working to make this world a more inclusive and compassionate place. I will offer whatever support I can and continue to strive for a more loving and equal society,”

He continued: “I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey. I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self. I’ve been endlessly inspired by so many in the trans community. Thank you for your courage, your generosity and ceaselessly working to make this world a more inclusive and compassionate place. I will offer whatever support I can and continue to strive for a more loving and equal society” he wrote.

The actor also spoke of his fear in coming out and highlighted the difficulties faced by less privileged people who have done the same. “I also ask for patience. 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 am 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 want to address the full picture.’

“The statistics are staggering. The discrimination towards trans people is rife, insidious and cruel, resulting in horrific consequences. In 2020 alone it has been reported that at least 40 transgender people have been murdered, the majority of which were Black and Latinx trans women.

“To the political leaders who work to criminalize trans healthcare and deny our right to exist and to all of those with a massive platform who continue to spew hostility towards the trans community: you have blood on your hands. You unleash a fury of vile and demeaning rage that lands on the shoulders of the trans community, a community in which 40% of trans adults report attempting suicide. Enough is enough. You aren’t being “cancelled,” you are hurting people. I am one of those people and we won’t be silent in the face of your attacks.”

Page concluded: “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. To all the trans people who deal with harassment, self-loathing, abuse, and the threat of violence every day: I see you, I love you, and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better.”

Page uses both he/him and they/them pronouns, and describes himself as transgender and non-binary, meaning that his gender identity is neither man nor woman.

Page broke out from his native Canada in 2005 with the revenge thriller Hard Candy. Two years later, he starred in Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody’s landmark indie Juno, for which Page received an Academy Award nomination among other accolades.

Prior to transition, Page was one of the most visible out gay actors in Hollywood. The Tuesday announcement further enriches his legacy, and adds him to a small but growing number of out trans creators and stars in Hollywood.

Page has been a vocal advocate for LGBT rights over the past decade and in January 2018 married the dancer and choreographer Emma Portner.

Nick Adams, GLAAD’s Director of Transgender Media, said “Elliot Page has given us fantastic characters on-screen, and has been an outspoken advocate for all LGBTQ people. He will now be an inspiration to countless trans and non-binary people. All transgender people deserve the chance to be ourselves and to be accepted for who we are. We celebrate the remarkable Elliot Page today.”

Ellen Page Marries Partner Emma Portner

Hurrah, Ellen Page has tied the knot with dance instructor partner Emma Portner over the New Year.

The actress shared the news on Instagram with a series of photographs, including one with their hands touching as they display their wedding rings.

The post was captioned: “Can’t believe I get to call this extraordinary woman my wife.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdgB9Iahwdk

Portner, who is a dancer, also shared the pictures, along with another photo of her kissing Page’s hand while they are hugging.

The two have been posting pictures on social media of themselves together since the spring.

Page told the world that she was a lesbian at a Human Rights Campaign event on Valentine’s Day in February 2014 in a rousing speech which earned her a standing ovation.

The actress subsequently admitted that her decision to be honest about who she is has had immensely positive effect on her life.

Speaking to Diva magazine in September 2017, Page said:

“Everything is different. From one day to the next [after coming out], I felt a happiness and an inner peace which I hadn’t known for years. My life now is overwhelming and I’m glad to be in a position where I can support my community and also help show that you can still play all kinds of roles after you are out.

Things are changing fast and the more people who come out will ultimately help put an end to the idea that coming out destroys your career. We have to make that happen.”

Page admitted she was getting ‘increasingly unhappy’ before coming out and the fact she was hiding who she was had started to impact her work.

The X-Men star also revealed coming out has given her career a boost in the right direction.

She explained:

“Before I had to hide my sexuality and that was making me increasingly unhappy, uncomfortable and anxious. I’m excited and enthusiastic about my work again. It feels the same way it did when I was 15 and beginning my career. It’s such a different feeling to be open about who you are and simply live that way and not have to put on masks and hide your identity. I feel an inner peace now which I hadn’t felt in a very long time.”

Page also admitted she reached a point in her life where her ‘desire’ to come out meant more to her than the any negative impact her sexuality could have had on her Hollywood career.

She said:

“I reached a point where my desire to come out was so great that even if everyone in Hollywood had told me that I’ll never work again, it wouldn’t have made any difference. I didn’t want to hide anymore.”

In late 2017, Ellen recounted a traumatic experience where film producer Brett Ratner outed her as a lesbian on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand when she was only 18 years old.

In a lengthy Facebook post in November, she wrote:

“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”. I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself. I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak. I felt violated when this happened. He ‘outed’ me with no regard for my well-being, an act we all recognize as homophobic.”

Page called Ratner’s comments ‘homophobic,’ and she says the feelings of shame lingered.

“This public, aggressive outing left me with long standing feelings of shame, one of the most destructive results of homophobia.”

Page kicked off her acting career by starring in a number of television shows in her native Canada, including Pit Pony and Trailer Park Boys.

Her first film role was in 2005 drama Hard Candy and her big screen breakthrough came when she appeared as the titular character in comedy Juno in 2007, winning her Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

She has gone on to star in  a number of blockbusters, including Inception and the X-Men franchise.

Here’s What You Need To Know About Ellen Page’s New Girlfriend

Ellen Page has a reason to celebrate, after it was announced last week that her docuseries, Gaycation earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Unstructured reality program.

Not only this, but it’s been announced, the actress was seen kissing her dancer girlfriend, Emma Portner.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWI-M_Uj6-V

Page – who came out in 2014 at the Human Rights Campaign’s “Time to Thrive” conference in Las Vegas – was previously dating artist and surfer, Samantha Thomas.

The couple walked the red carpet for the World Premiere of Freeheld, starring Page and Julianne Moore.

The actress discussed her relationship on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and later told Entertainment Tonight,

To love someone openly, to hold someone’s hand walking down the street, it’s a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful thing. And I’m just lucky enough to have someone in my life as special as [Samantha].”

Though the actress was spotted with Thomas earlier this year, it looks like things didn’t end up working out.

However, it seems as though the actress has since moved on. Page has since been spotted kissing the fellow Canadian dancer outside a café in West Hollywood.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUrPDEYjM2p

So who is Emma Portner. Well she is a Broadway dance centre instructor.

She also appeared in Justin Bieber’s music video for Life Is Worth Living and was a part of his Purpose world tour!

In recent weeks, Portner took to Instagram to support her girlfriend with a caption reading, “Unbelievably proud of @ellenpage, @ianjamesdaniel and the ENTIRE #gaycation team on their Emmy Nomination this morning.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWfprVuDaie/

It has been reported that the couple have been hanging out for a few months now.

The two even collaborated for an acoustic dance cover of Britney Spears’ 2010 song “Lucky Back” last month.

Portner is quite famous on Instagram and has over 36.9k followers. The account is filled with her amazing dance performances.

She also does not shy away from showing her love for Ellen Page on social media. She posted a lot of pictures with the actress, and Page returns the favor, supporting her girlfriend on her own Instagram account.

Portner also has a YouTube channel, where she uploads some of her amazing choreography.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84fYHDEVM2E