Actress Ellen Page (Juno, X Men: Days of Future) came out as gay yesterday at the Human Rights Campaign’s inaugural Time to THRIVE conference in Las Vegas. “I’m here today because I am gay,” Page said in a moving speech at the conference dedicated to LGBT youth. “And because… maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility. I also do it selfishly, because I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission.”

In the speech, in which she praised out public figures like football player Michael Sam and musicians Tegan and Sara Quinn, Page referred to her own experience as the subject of Hollywood gossip reporting:

I try not to read gossip as a rule, but the other day a website ran an article with a picture of me wearing sweatpants on the way to the gym. The writer asked, “Why does [this] petite beauty insist upon dressing like a massive man?”

*pause*

Because I like to be comfortable. There are pervasive stereotypes about masculinity and femininity that define how we are all supposed to act, dress and speak. They serve no one. Anyone who defies these so-called ‘norms’ becomes worthy of comment and scrutiny. The LGBT community knows this all too well.

This week it was also announced that a long-planned Ellen Page project, Freeheld, the true story of New Jersey police detective’s fight for same sex couple’s rights, will be moving into production. Directed by Peter Sollett, the film stars Page as Stacie Andrew, the partner of the detective, who will be played by Julianne Moore.

Congratulations to Page — selected for Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces in 2005 — for this powerful statement.