Page, 36, admits to being a little nervous. “Slightly overwhelmed!” he says with a laugh. “But grateful.”
“I didn't think I could write a book,” Page tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Books, particularly memoirs, have really shifted my life, offered me inspiration, comfort, been humbling, all of those things. And I think this period of not just hate, of course, but misinformation or just blatant lies about LGTBQ+ lives, about our healthcare, it felt like the right time. Trans and queer stories are so often picked apart, or worse, universalized. So the first chapter of Pageboy” — excerpted below — “I just sat down, and it came out and I just didn't stop. I just kept writing.”
Page knows his own personal experience is not that of most in his community. “My experience as a trans person and this life I have, and the privilege I have does not represent the reality of most trans lives.” Nevertheless, representation and visibility are important, he says. “I think it's crucial, I think we need to feel represented and see ourselves, you know, that's not something I had like as a kid. The reality is, trans people disproportionately are unemployed, disproportionately experience homelessness. Trans women of color are being murdered. People are losing their healthcare or couldn't access it.”
