Ellen Page comes face to face with a man who says gay people are 'worse than animals.'
March 04 2016 12:36 PM EST
March 04 2016 2:59 PM EST
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Ellen Page comes face to face with a man who says gay people are 'worse than animals.'
Ellen Page and Ian Daniel have some shocking experiences on Gaycation, their new gay travel show on Viceland -- among them an encounter in Brazil with a man who admits to killing gay people because they are "worse than animals."
"I think every pigsty needs to be cleaned up," says the confessed killer, who is also a police officer. "They are worse than animals. ... If they cross my path, I'll take care of them."
A clip shows Page being clearly disturbed by the man's statement, and she tells Daniel, "I want to say that I'm gay. Do you think that's safe?" while avoiding eye contact with the man. Ultimately, she decides to admit that both she and Daniel are gay. "We're gay," she says. "I'm wondering if you think it's better for the world, for us to be dead?"
The boxer Manny Pacquiao recently made a similar statement about LGBT people, calling people in same-sex relationships "worse than animals."
Page spoke with the The Daily Beast about the incident, saying:
"I thought it was important for us to say it to that man and get his honest opinion. You just had a conversation with people who are gay. Would you want to kill us, too? I think it's hard to read on camera, but he went from pretty much looking at us, or looking at us from above those sunglasses, to not even looking at our faces after that. There was definitely a shift in that moment. That was definitely a moment where you're like, OK, what did I just do?"
The actress came out in a passionate speech at a Human Rights Campaign conference in 2014, and last year she starred in the lesbian film Freeheld. She told the Beast that she could not imagine ever working on a show like Gaycation when she was closeted, but she is glad to be out and making LGBT content:
"Coming out did change my life. I'm happier than I could've ever imagined, and just feeling inspired again. There was even feeling guilt for not being a visible person for the community [before], and wanting to know more and learn more and understand the struggles of those who are much more vulnerable than I am, as a gay person in the world. Coming out allows you to produce movies that have LGBT characters and themes and content."
Watch the clip from Gaycation below. The full episode and others from the show are available at Viceland's website; a log-in from your cable provider is required.