Ellen Page on coming out as gay: ‘I want to love someone freely and walk down the street and hold my girlfriend’s hand’

In her first big interview since her big announcement, the Juno actress explains much better she feels since

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Ellen Page has given her first major interview since she decided to publicly announce that she’s gay, in which she opens up about the reasons behind her decision and reactions since - good and bad.

The 26-year-old Juno actress told a packed and appreciative audience at a Las Vegas conference for LGBT teens in February. She admits that she was “very, very nervous” and “deeply, deeply emotional”, before making her speech.

“The more time went by, the more something just happened, an Oh my god - I want to love someone freely and walk down the street and hold my girlfriend’s hand,” she told Flare magazine.

Despite having come out to her parents when she was 19, Page said her sexuality took a long time to come to terms with.

“You think you’re in a place where you’re all ‘I’m thrilled to be gay, I have no issues about being gay anymore, I don’t feel shame about being gay’, but you actually do,” she said. “You’re just not fully aware of it. I think I still felt scared about people knowing. I felt awkward around gay people; I felt guilty for not being myself.”

Currently single, Page’s former flames are rumoured to have included Drew Barrymore and Clea DuVall. She believes that the acting world still has a way to go before treatment between homosexual and heterosexual stars are treated equally.

“You hear things like, ‘People shouldn’t know about your life because you’re creating an illusion on-screen.’ But I don’t see other actresses going to great lengths to hide their heterosexuality,” she added. “That’s an unfair double standard.”

On the whole, the reaction to her revelation has been “remarkably positive”. However, there was one incident involving an old-fashioned pastor that shows not everyone is beyond homophobia yet.

The day after her Vegas announcement, Page was boarding a flight when a pastor handed her a note –which she thought would be a letter of support. It was signed ‘Your Heavenly Daddy’.

“It was the worst kind of homophobia,” she said, “because it wasn’t just ‘You deserve to burn in hell.’ It was ‘While God thinks it’s lovely that you stood up for your beliefs, perhaps you’ve never had the loving arms of a father.’”

She responded over Twitter, stating that: “Being gay isn’t a belief. My soul isn’t struggling & I don’t want arms of Heavenly Father around me. A girl’s arms? Yes.”

Going public with her sexuality have made her feel much freer than ever before.

“I feel more creatively inspired than I have in years,” she said. “And I’m sure it has to do with a lot of bricks being taken out of the backpack.”

Read more: Ellen Page's announcement in full
Ellen Page shame a pastor over homophobia