An impassioned Ellen Page condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, and in particular Vice-President Mike Pence, for its anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies during an emotional interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Thursday.
The Canadian-born actress, who married her wife Emma Portner last year, was on the talk show to promote her new Netflix show, "The Umbrella Academy." However, the conversation turned to how anti-LGBTQ views by the two American leaders have helped give rise to more hate crimes in the U.S.
"I'm really fired up tonight but it feels impossible not to feel this way right now with the president and the vice-president, Mike Pence, who wishes I couldn't be married. Let's just be clear, the vice-president of America wishes I didn't have the love [I have] with my wife. He wanted to ban that in Indiana," said Page, who accused Pence of attacking the LGBTQ community while he was governor of Indiana.
Watch: Ellen Page calls out hateful leadership. Story continues below.
"He believes in conversion therapy. He has hurt LGBTQ people so badly as the governor of Indiana. I think the thing we need to know, and I hope my show 'Gaycation' did this, in terms of connecting the dots between what happened with Jussie — I don't know him personally, I send him all of my love — [is how to] connect the dots. This is what happens if you are in a position of power and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them. You go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering."
"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, 35, was attacked earlier this week in what was allegedly a homophobic and racist incident in Chicago. Police have said that two unknown assailants allegedly approached Smollett, yelling out racial and homophobic slurs before assaulting him and fleeing the scene. Smollett said in a statement to E! News on Friday that he was OK.
"What do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused and they're going to kill themselves. People are going to be beaten on the street. I have travelled the world and I have met the most marginalized people you could meet. I'm lucky to have this time and this privilege to say this. This needs to fucking stop," said the 31-year-old star of films "Juno" and "Inception."
And there is truth to Page's assertion: Loyola University Chicago School of Law professor Stephen Rushin and University of Alabama at Birmingham economics professor Griffin Sims Edwards conducted a study last year that found that Trump's rise to power was associated with "a statistically significant surge in reported hate crimes across the United States."
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Page, who was born and raised in Halifax, also spoke about the looming dangers of climate change and environmental racism.
She said that environmental degradation "disproportionately affects people of colour," and pointed to cases in Nova Scotia to make her point.
Page told Colbert that there's "a pulp mill in Pictou, N.S. that's been there forever and has destroyed the environment and the land of the First Nations people."
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