Elliot Page Discusses Using His Platform and Privilege to Uplift the Transgender Community

Elliot Page is sitting down with Oprah Winfrey for his first television interview since coming out as transgender. In a sneak peek of the upcoming episode of The Oprah Conversation, which airs in full on April 30 on Apple TV+, Elliot discusses the moments leading up to publicly sharing his identity as a transgender man on Instagram. "I was expressing this to people in my life much before posting that letter," he told Oprah. "Telling people for the first time, knowing I wanted a moment, of course, to become comfortable in myself and to be able to get to that point."

After dealing with his own mental health issues as a result of being "closeted so long," Elliot said it was especially important for him to come out to potentially help other people in the transgender community. "With this platform I have, the privilege that I have, and knowing the pain and the difficulties and struggles that I have faced in my life, let alone what so many other people are facing, it absolutely felt just crucial and important for me to share that."

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Elliot further explained his decision to sit down with Oprah for an interview. "It was something I needed to sit with for a moment, because the backlash right now is so intense," Elliot said. "But the rhetoric coming from anti-trans activists and anti-LGBTQ activists - it's devastating. These bills are going to be responsible for the death of children. It is that simple. So [talking to Oprah] felt like an opportunity to use a wide-reaching platform to speak from my heart about some of my experience and the resources I've been able to access - whether therapy or surgery - that have allowed me to be alive, to live my life."

Elliot's full interview with Oprah will be available on Apple TV+ on April 30.

from POPSUGAR Celebrity https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/elliot-page-quotes-from-the-oprah-conversation-episode-48295175