Hollywood actress Ellen Page says that
she feels guilty for not coming out earlier.
The 28-year-old Page announced she's
gay last year on Valentine's Day during a speech delivered at Time to
THRIVE, an LGBT youth conference hosted by the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC) and held at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Page, who is promoting her latest film,
Freeheld, was asked by ABC News' Peter Travers, host of
Popcorn, how she felt about being able to attend the film's premiere
with her girlfriend Samantha Thomas.
“It's an amazing thing,” Page
answered.
“And so do you, I mean you're very
young, but do you look back on this other part of your life where you
couldn't be this with bitterness or with acceptance or with what?
How do you look at those years where you couldn't be who you wanted
to be?” Travers asked.
“I look at it I'd say in different
ways,” Page
explained. “I look at it – sometimes I feel embarrassed. I
feel guilty for not coming out earlier and being a visible person for
the community. And then I feel empathy, because I know how I felt
and what I believed and that it was something that I needed to work
through. Mostly what I feel now is gratitude. To be feeling how I
feel comparing to how I felt then. And I wish no one had to feel
that way, because it's toxic and it's sad, and it negatively affects
every aspect of your life, including my work.”