Ellen Page’s Coming Out Speech

Ellen Page, the Oscar-nominated star of Juno, has come out as gay.

At a Las Vegas conference Friday held by the Human Rights Campaign to support L.G.B.T. youth, Page told an audience straightforwardly, “I’m here today because I am gay.”

She received a standing ovation for her speech, in which she talked about wanting to serve as an example for other gay youth:

I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain. I am young, yes, but what I have learned is that love, the beauty of it, the joy of it and yes, even the pain of it, is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.

Page came out less than a week after Michael Sam, the University of Missouri football player and NFL prospect, announced he is gay. Sam would be the first openly gay player active in the football league if he is drafted.

  TIME