Oscar Nominee Elliot Page Announces He Is Transgender

Good news that a celebrity can bring awareness

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Can somebody help me out here.

First Elliot said he was gay (lesbian at that time I guess).
Now he is gay.
Or we don’t say he is gay.
Or what ?
Are transgender referred to as gay ?
Also are transgender people who already have had some kind of surgery , hormone treatment or you can just say you are transgender ?
What is the difference between transsexual and transgender ?
Now he has declared as transgender we just call him he right.

Serious questions, I’m confused…

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I’ve been aware for a long time that a person’s gender is their own business. The only thing I’m becoming more aware of now is how tiresome playing the victim is becoming.

In Page’s post, he asked “for patience. My joy is real, but it is also fragile.”

“I am also scared,” Page acknowledged. “The discrimination towards trans people is rife, insidious and cruel, resulting in horrific consequences.”

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15 posts were split to a new topic: YOYLGBTQ+4um

A lot of those questions, I’m not sure about. But I did discover a week or two back that transsexual is often considered offensive and archaic these days, so best avoid that term. I think transgender is OK, but I’m not certain.

And yeah, good for Elliot, but I admit I’m also confused about what’s polite and respectful and what isn’t. Oh well - part of getting older.

That’s why I shared it here. I think we can all learn

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There’s a useful style sheet from GLAAD as part of their article about Elliot Page. I’ll quote the whole main section, which helps answer some of @Brianjones’s questions (and mine!) above:

  • DO describe people who transition as transgender, and use transgender as an adjective. Elliot Page is a transgender person. DON’T use transgender as a noun: “Elliot Page is a transgender”. DON’T use “transgendered.” Transgender never needs an extraneous “-ed” at the end. DON’T use “transsexual” or “transvestite.”
  • DO describe Elliot Page as a non-binary, transgender person. Both transgender and non-binary are umbrella terms that describe many different types of experiences. In Page’s case, it can be used like this: “Elliot Page describes themself as transgender and non-binary, meaning that their gender identity is neither man nor woman.”
  • DO refer to Elliot Page’s gender identity being non-binary, not his sexual orientation. Gender identity is one’s own internal, deeply held sense of one’s own gender. Sexual orientation is who one is attracted to. They are not the same thing and should not be conflated or confused.
  • DO refer to them as Elliot Page. DON’T refer to them by their former name. He has changed it, and should be accorded the same respect received by anyone who has changed their name. Since Elliot Page was known to the public by their prior name, it may be necessary initially to say “Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen Page, …” However, once the public has learned Page’s new name, do not continually refer to it in future stories.
  • DO use he/they pronouns when referring to Elliot Page. This means you can use either he/him or they/them pronouns to refer to Elliot. Both pronouns are acceptable. If you need to explain this to your audience, you can include a sentence that says “Elliot Page uses both he/him and they/them pronouns; this story will use he/him when referring to Page.”
  • DON’T use she/her pronouns to describe Elliot Page, even when referring to events in their past. Simply use their current name and pronouns. For example, “Elliot Page began their career as a child actor before their breakout performances in Hard Candy and Juno .”
  • AVOID the phrase “born a woman” when referring to Page. If it is necessary to describe for your audience what it means to be transgender, consider: “Elliot Page was designated as female on his birth certificate, but is now living as his authentic self.”
  • DON’T speculate about medical procedures transgender people may or may not choose to undertake as part of their transition. This is private medical information, and a transgender identity is not dependent on medical procedures. Overemphasizing the medical aspects of a person’s transition objectifies transgender people, and prevents the public from seeing the transgender person as a whole person.
  • DON’T imply that someone who discloses that they are transgender was lying or being deceptive because they chose to keep that information private. Transgender people face extremely high rates of family rejection, employment and housing discrimination, and physical violence. Every transgender person has to prepare to face the possible consequences of transitioning to live as their authentic self. That caution does not mean that they were deceptive or lying. It simply means they felt it necessary to keep their authentic self private until they were safely able to disclose it to others.
  • DON’T indulge in superficial critiques of a transgender person’s femininity or masculinity. There is no one way to “look” transgender or non-binary. Transgender people can have a range of gender expressions, just like cisgender people. How a person chooses to express their gender through their hair, clothing, make-up, jewelry, etc. is their own personal decision and doesn’t change their gender identity.
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:no_mouth:

Some of this stuff is ridiculous.
Some of the other points helped though.

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Can’t help but speculate. At the same time it clears up that there isn’t any clear definition of transgender beyond somebody declaring themself transgender I guess.

Note that’s a style sheet for journalists - it’s suggestions for how people should write, not for how they should think.

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I don’t think it’s anything to do with getting older. Society changes quickly. Also the world is a diverse and big place. As I mentioned, possibly because I have lived in Taiwan for so long and it is quite conservative, I’ve never known anybody who has declared as transgender.
I don’t live in the US and we in Taiwan won’t have the same norms as in the US.
People need to stop jumping down folks backs for asking simple questions.

What a pain you get shouted at and heckled for asking questions by the thought police! I have HATED being told what to think since I went to a Catholic school. No way I’m going to stop asking questions .

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I think a lot of it is age, just in the sense that language and culture change and as we get older following those changes gradually becomes more difficult. We all get more set in our ways. I’m comfortable with old-fashioned discussion forums like this one; put me on Twitch or Instagram and I have no idea what’s going on. Mind you, with LGBTQ+ issues it’s more of a minefield, and sometimes you’ll run across people who assume anyone who’s clumsy with the language is in fact bigoted, rather than just out of touch.

Of course, living in Taiwan can make us even more out of touch. (“No, students, you do NOT want me teaching you slang. Really, you don’t.”)

Audrey Tang is on the news all the time for the most frivolous things.

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Ooh, and technically she’s a poster on this site. Good call.

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(Frantically Googles to figure out what people are talking about.)

And, as I said - I’m out of touch!

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Yes just her and I have seen her interviews. But I don’t recall meeting any transgender ever over decades in Taiwan. I’m certainly not out of touch I am very much involved with society here.

I don’t think there are that many transgender people anywhere to meet except maybe Thailand. They are very few in number. Do you know any trans people in Ireland?

I don’t live in Ireland. My home is here in Taiwan.
The only touch point I have is there is a transgender teacher (junior high school ?) that has been on the news I few times in Taiwan . I would have referred to her as transsexual before because she looks like a man but wears dresses. She seemed to get on just fine. Personally I wouldn’t have any issue with such a teacher for my kids.

Who is this Elliot character? He looks vaguely familiar…

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Yeah she’s been on the news.

That’s not really the point. My point is you most likely wouldn’t meet any trans people in Ireland either. You can ask people you know who still live there if they know anyone who’s trans, chances are they have not because there just aren’t that many.

He used to be Ellen Page.

Idk why he didn’t choose Allen as his new name lol.