Elliot Page 's Met Gala outfit is thought to symbolize queer love.- He wore a green carnation, a gesture popularized by the poet
Oscar Wilde . - It was Page's first red-carpet event since coming out as
transgender last year.
Elliot Page wore an outfit with a hidden meaning at the Met Gala on Monday, his first red-carpet event since coming out as transgender last year.
The "Umbrella Academy" actor, 34, pinned a green carnation to his Balenciaga tuxedo, according to Yahoo Life. The publication noted that the green carnation has been used as a symbol of queer love since the British poet Oscar Wilde popularized wearing the flower in the 1890s.
According to Oscar Wilde Tours, the poet encouraged one of the actors in his play "Lady Windermere's Fan" to wear a green carnation on opening night. He told a dozen of his young fans to wear them too.
The website added that though the flower was said to be popular with gay Parisians during this period, there is little evidence to suggest its symbolism.
Though Wilde was married with two sons, he was gay, which was illegal in the UK until the 1960s, according to the British Library. After he was found guilty of "indecency" in a trial, he spent two years in prison, before spending the last three years of his life "wandering Europe in self-imposed exile," the website added.
Page announced that he was transgender in a letter shared on Twitter in December.
"Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot," Page said. "I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life.
"I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey. I can't begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self," Page added.
He went on to thank the trans community "for your courage, your generosity and ceaselessly working to make this world a more inclusive and compassionate place."
Variety had hailed Page as "one of the most visible out gay actors in Hollywood" since coming out at a Human Rights Campaign conference called Time to Thrive supporting LGBTQ youth in 2014.