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- Elliot Page's Met Gala outfit is thought to symbolize queer love.
- He wore a green carnation, which was popularized by the poet Oscar Wilde.
- It was Page's first red-carpet event since coming out as transgender last year.
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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 flower 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 adds that, despite the flower being popular with Parisians who identified as gay during this time period, there is little evidence to suggest the symbolism of the flower.
Although Wilde was married with two sons, he was homosexual – which was illegal in the UK until the 1960s – according to the British Library. He was ultimately taken to trial for "indecency" and was found guilty, spending 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 is transgender in a letter shared on Twitter in December 2020.
"Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot. I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life," he wrote in the lengthy statement.
"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."
Page had previously been hailed as "one of the most visible out gay actors in Hollywood" since coming out at a Human Rights Campaign conference called Time to Thrive that supported LGBT youth in 2014, Variety reported.