Yahoo Finance Tommy Dorfman, star of 13 Reasons Why , comes out as a trans woman
Tommy Dorfman is ready to reintroduce herself to the world. Dorfman, who shot to fame playing Ryan Shaver on the hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, officially opened up about her transition in a Time interview with novelist Torrey Peters on Thursday.
"It's funny to think about coming out, because I haven't gone anywhere. I view today as a reintroduction to me as a woman, having made a transition medically," Dorfman said. "Coming out is always viewed as this grand reveal, but I was never not out. Today is about clarity: I am a trans woman. My pronouns are she/her. My name is Tommy."
Tommy Dorfman/Instagram Tommy Dorfman
Dorfman explained that she wanted to come forward with her transition specifically with Time because it's "a source that has centered this kind of storytelling for a long time." The magazine previously covered the stories of LGBTQ stars like Ellen DeGeneres, Laverne Cox, Josie Totah, and The Umbrella Academy's Elliot Page, and Dorfman counts herself as another unique notch on the ladder of embracing one's true self.
"My intervention is evolution — I'm just another person transitioning. I'm showing gender fluidity; how fast and dynamic and vulnerable it can be, how it's an ongoing thing," she said.
The actress has been chronicling her style and appearance changes on Instagram, but Time's interview is the first time that she's openly talked about her transitioning. She called her Instagram account "a diaristic time capsule" but said she realized she needed to be more candid about her truth in order to feel like she had control over her narrative.
"I've been living in this other version of coming out where I don't feel safe enough to talk about it, so I just do it," she admitted. "But I recognize that transitioning is beautiful. Why not let the world see what that looks like?"
Dorfman also clarified that despite transitioning, she won't change her name (she was named for her uncle who passed away after she was born).
"I feel very connected to that name, to an uncle who held me as he was dying," she said. "This is an evolution of Tommy. I'm becoming more Tommy."
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