“13 Reasons Why” star Tommy Dorfman came out as transgender in an Instagram post Thursday morning.
“Thrilled to reintroduce myself as the woman i am today. My pronouns are she/her,” Dorfman wrote, alongside editorial photos of her wearing dresses and heels.
“I’m especially grateful to every single trans person who walked this path, broke down barriers, and risked their lives to live authentically and radically as themselves before me,” Dorfman continued. “Thank you to all the trans woman that showed me who i am, how to live, celebrate myself, and take up space in this world.”
Dorfman shared more about her identity as a trans woman in a coinciding interview with Time on Thursday. In the article, titled, “Tommy Dorfman Would Like to Clarify,” the 29-year-old said she’s “been privately identifying and living as a woman” for a year. Now that she’s out to the public, she explained why she prefers to use the term “reintroduction” to describe her transition.
“It’s funny to think about coming out, because I haven’t gone anywhere,” she said. “I view today as a reintroduction to me as a woman, having made a transition medically. Coming out is always viewed as this grand reveal, but I was never not out.”
Dorfman told Time she plans to keep going by Tommy, given the name’s significance to her and her family.
“I’m not changing my name. I’m named after my mom’s brother who passed a month after I was born, and I feel very connected to that name, to an uncle who held me as he was dying. This is an evolution of Tommy. I’m becoming more Tommy,” she explained.
Dorfman also used her interview to highlight the struggles of disadvantaged trans people and LGBTQ youth, encouraging readers to “personalize” their activism and advocacy, even if that means making monetary contributions in place of bodily protest actions.
Dorfman was one of the young breakout stars of Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why,” on which she played Ryan. Next up, she’ll appear in the limited series “Fracture” and Lena Dunham’s film “Sharp Stick,” and she is also set to direct an adaptation of Mason Deaver’s “I Wish You All the Best.”
