Bravo, Ellen Page.

Great speech.

No just the "I'm Gay" bit, but also where she praises those who make a difference and calls out the industry she works in which in so many ways sets the guidelines which we as a civilisation judge each other.

I'm not sure how far I'll go with this rant ... I know there is stuff here that I've been wanting to say for many years. I also know there will be stuff here that offends many people who think they are right or righteous.

Everyone suffers. It's true, some suffer more then others but there isn't one of us on this planet who hasn't suffered in some way. There is as much chance of rich kids having shitty parents as there is for poor kids. Abuse of different sorts happens to all of us. In western society we all feel judged by the media.
Are you pretty enough? Are you too fat? Is your hair the wrong colour? How about your skin? Do you think the right way? Wear the right clothes? Say the right things? Have the right opinions?
At any given time, the answer to all these question is "No". Models and Hollywood actors aren't pretty enough once some tv show, website or magazine show them without makeup. Photoshop allows magazines and advertisers to turn those same models and actors into impossibly skinny avatars for their covers or ads. Fashion trends are out of fashion before the blink of an eye. Opinion Pieces have taken the place of journalism so instead of being told what happened, you're now told how you should think about what happened. The News isn't about the actual story any more, it's about how some bloke who happened to be walking past feels about what might have happened based upon what little he has seen. Or it's about what drug big pharmaceutical wants the audience to demand be put on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It's about what event we should all be scared of next .... bushfires? floods? heatwaves? coldsnaps? drunk people? bikies? rapists? boat people? or whatever other extreme danger to our civilisation as we know it pops up tomorrow. I personally feel sorry for the weather girls who look terrified every night because today was the hottest mid-February day between the time of 6:00 am and 6:23 am since last Tuesday or because scientist think that raindrops could possibly be getting larger ever since they started measuring them 4 weeks ago.

Media thinks they have to sensationalise everything to get you to view it. For some reason they think it's better then well written articles that discuss actual ideas ... real debate where it isn't about winning but instead about improving things for us all. I guess it's a lot easier to sensationalise then it is to inform. It's a lot easier to focus on a Hollywood actor's decision to come out then it is to address what she says for the 5 minutes before she says "I'm Gay". I'm not suggesting that we all choose to live in a Utopia from now on ... I know that this isn't realistic. Someone will always take advantage of someone else. I've come to the conclusion that there is the same percentage of arseholes in every culture/religion/ethnicity/country across the world. The only way we'll change that is one person at a time, starting and ending with ourselves.

/rant

TO all those saying 'big deal' or 'she should get over herself' or 'being GLBTI is no accomplishment', try walking not a mile, but a metre in GLBTI people's shoes..

You cannot even IMAGINE what we go through DAILY.. I was lucky enough to have the resilience to survive the complete betrayal and rejection by those I thought loved me most. When I came out, I was told to my face by my parents:

- we wished you had died instead
- we wished you hit by a truck and killed like your cousin
- we wished you were a heroin addict, at least then we could fix you
- we wished you had died like your uncle of cancer

They then kicked me out, I was still at uni, I had no money, no place to go.. When I found a job and some share-houses I was on 3 or 4 occasions directly discriminated against because I was a lesbian (I am always honest..)

I have had GPs tell me directly that I wasn't gay (when they ask those 'sex and reproduction' questions and I was being honest), and sexually assaulted by another doctor upon him learning of it. I have been chronically off and on depressed and anxious since my coming out experience at a young age, as a direct result of the rejection.

Straight people have no idea that GLBTI people have to 'reveal' themselves daily,and every time we do we feel that sense of anxiety/panic in case we are treated with vitriol and violence... We are constantly NOT ONLY TOLD, but SHOWN we are unequal/second class by the words and actions of others, and the laws that govern this country.

GLBTI people live in a state of perpetual fear, isolation, disempowerment, frustration, despondency, hopelessness, anxiety, etc, not because of who WE ARE, but because the ignorant, religious, intolerant, and bigoted people are afraid of who THEY ARE. They inflict their own deep shame, guilt, fear, self-loathing, and insecurity on us, and it is completely ENABLED, TOLERATED, ENCOURAGED, CELEBRATED, and LEGISLATED.

GLBTI people have no reason to feel shame. We are living and breathing examples of triumph over the worst adversity. We are nature's diversity embodied and thriving, and we will remind you everyday that the best person you can be is one that is bursting with love, compassion, empathy, and inspiration for ALL humans...

Next time you see a GLBTI person the only question you need to ask yourself is 'am I love, or am I fear?' - If you are love then you will only see another magnificent, loving, inspiring person in front of you. If you are fear, you will categorize, stereotype, and separate. To those that hide their bigotry behind their religion, at the fundamental level it is YOUR choice to make - and I KNOW what Jesus would do...