Ellen Page Gives Shout-Out to Ellen DeGeneres After Comedian Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Update: In December 2020, Elliot Page came out as trans and announced that they use he/they pronouns. This content was written in November 2016, before Page publicly announced that they are trans.

President Barack Obama isn’t the only one honoring Ellen DeGeneres.

Actress Ellen Page took to Twitter on Tuesday with a special message for the 58-year-old comedian after DeGeneres received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama.

“Thank you @TheEllenShow for everything you have done,” the 29-year-old wrote, including a rainbow and two heart emojis.

Page, who came out as gay in 2014, thanked the comedian during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres show that year for blazing the trail with her own coming out in 1997.

Kevin Winter/Getty

“It was a combination of just such thrill to finally be at that place in my life where I was able to [come out], and grateful to have that moment – and grateful to you because you did it at a time where it was much harder and much scarier,” Page said.

DeGeneres became teary-eyed as Obama placed the medal around her neck on Tuesday. She stood alongside the president as a White House aide described her achievements.

“At a pivotal moment, her courage and candor helped change the minds of millions of Americans, accelerating our nation’s constant drive toward equality and acceptance for all,” the aide said.

DeGeneres visited the White House, along with Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Michael Jordan and Diana Ross, where the ceremony was held.

She quipped on Twitter about forgetting her ID, writing, “They haven’t let me in to the White House yet because I forgot my ID.”

She made it into the famous house though, and later uploaded a Twitter photo of herself alongside her wife Portia de Rossi.

“.@POTUS Barack Obama just awarded me the #MedalofFreedom,” she wrote alongside the photo. “I hope it serves as an ID. I have no idea how I’m getting home.”