Ellen Page On Kim Davis’ Gay Rights Stance: ‘It’s Not New’
Ellen Page, who recently confronted presidential candidate Ted Cruz on gay rights, told the Daily Beast this weekend she agreed that Kim Davis is not a martyr. Davis, the clerk who refused to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples, claimed that part of her job was not consistent with her religious beliefs.
When the Beast told Page of the argument that Davis was akin to George Wallace blocking African-American children from attending school, the star of the new film Freeheld agreed.
“Yes! The same religious liberty arguments have been used to discriminate with regards to gender and race. It’s not new. That being said, has religion been used for propelling beautiful movements? Of course. But this is not new, and it’s destructive, and it’s sad.”
Page told the Beast that her encounter with Cruz went as predicted.
“Here’s the thing: I’ve seen multiple videos and read multiple quotes of Ted Cruz discussing gay issues, as well as Mike Huckabee, and it goes exactly as you’d expect. They don’t answer the question.”
She went on to say that most young Republican constituents are in favor of gay rights.
In Freeheld, Page plays the partner of a New Jersey cop who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The cop, played by Julianne Moore, has to fight to get benefits for Page’s character. The film is based on a true story.
In addition to Freeheld, Page was at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend to promote the film Into the Forest, which she also produced. She co-stars with Evan Rachel Wood in the story of two sisters who must survive after the collapse of the North American power grid.
Page told the Globe and Mail that she read the novel upon which Into the Forest is based. It coincided with her own experimentation with a new kind of off-the-grid living.
“I went to Oregon and had the lovely opportunity to stay on an ecovillage for a month, and take a permaculture design and ecovillage development course. That was just a huge part of my life at that time. I’d gone through a lot of transition, in regards to being an anonymous person to not an anonymous person. There was, you know, a desire to explore other things, probably to feel really connected and grounded.”
Wood told the Hollywood Reporter that Into the Forest is a “realistic portrayal” of extreme loss and lack of luxury.
Freeheld is set for October 2 release.
[Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images Entertainment]
