Elliot Page wants to eliminate gendered award categories, calls it 'binary thinking'

Elliot Page said that it would be a good move for award ceremonies in the film industry to remove gender categories for their nominations and instead combine the male and female categories into one.

Page agreed during an interview with Entertainment Weekly that major awards ceremonies such as the Oscars should eliminate categories divided by sex.

"Yeah, it seems like a good idea," the 36-year-old told the outlet. "And, again, this sort of unusual aspect of that being the only category, right, where that sort of happens? So, hopefully, we start moving beyond that degree of binary thinking."

Only smaller award shows such as the Gotham Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards have eliminated gendered categories. The Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Oscars have not.

The obvious criticism that such a policy would result in fewer awards for artists in general, including women, did not appear to factor into Page's opinion.

Elliot Page, the actress formerly known as Ellen Page, came out as a lesbian in 2014 before she revealed in 2020 that she believes she is a man. This was followed by numerous occasions of posting shirtless photos online after undergoing double mastectomy surgery.

Page was promoting her first new movie since the 2020 declaration of transgenderism, which she co-wrote, and predictably included a shirtless scene in the first moments of the movie.

In "Close to You," Page plays a transgender man whose story has parallels to the actor's own life, according to Reuters.

"So much of this is about connection and what it means to be human and what it means to be seen," Page said from the red carpet. "I imagine those themes on some level resonate with most people."

The film's opening moments were described by Entertainment Weekly as a "powerful scene that sees Page standing shirtless in front of the camera," which Page said impacted her greatly.

"Shooting on the day, I was getting out of bed and getting dressed, it was sort of clumsy, like, 'Oh, it would be great, he sleeps shirtless.' In the moment when you're making this, you're making it from this instinctual place that I don't know how to describe. It just sort of happens, but at the same time, it just felt natural," Page said.

"Showing this dude who's comfortable and present and waking up in his body, that means a lot to me. I never thought I'd feel that way, so it's nice to get to act it," she added.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!