Ellen Page + Girlfriend Samantha Thomas Make Their Red Carpet Debut

Ellen Page attended the premiere of her movie Freeheld this past Sunday (September 13), appearing in public for the first time with her girlfriend Samantha Thomas.

The couple made their red carpet debut when they showed up at Toronto’s International Film Festival in matching tuxes. Ellen spoke with E! News that night, saying, “I’m in love. Walking down the carpet holding my girlfriend’s hand is pretty special. It’s awesome."

Freeheld follows the story of a lesbian couple (played by Ellen and Julianne Moore) who battle for domestic partner benefits following a cancer diagnosis, and Ellen says shooting the movie became the driving inspiration for her to come out publicly last February. She told Out magazine, "For me, lots of stuff surfaced [playing Stacie]. Recreating a sort of closeted relationship in a film caused some stuff to surface, for sure. And then there’s [the matter] of speaking up or potentially owning an identity that I think does require a responsibility of trying to help move things forward."

She continued, “I remember thinking, Ellen, how in God’s name could you make this film and not be out? What’s interesting to me is how long it took to make the movie — for it to finally come together — and how my internal progression toward coming out was naturally in line with it.”

Ruby Rose, breakout star of the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, also attended the premiere to support her friend Ellen. She posted a photo of the two on Instagram and wrote, "When your best friend is the most talented, funny, beautiful, generous, humble human being it’s hard to not smile until it hurts. Ellen, I am so proud of you and will always be grateful for everything you are and will always be to me.”