Tommy Dorfman Is Reintroducing Herself: “I Am a Trans Woman”

Tommy Dorfman is openly and candidly discussing her gender in a new interview with Time. In the feature published on Thursday, the 29-year-old actor and former 13 Reasons Why star revealed that she has “been privately identifying and living as a woman” for the past year.

While this is the first time Tommy has publicly discussed her gender as a woman, she also admitted that she doesn’t see this as a “coming out” per say. “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. Today is about clarity: I am a trans woman. My pronouns are she/her. My name is Tommy.”

Tommy noted that she will not be changing her name, saying, “For me, personally, it’s not viable. 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 added that she doesn’t see her transition “as an idea of going somewhere,” but more so, “that I am actually myself.”

Looking forward, Tommy added that she hopes she “can infuse my trans body into film and television.” “Lena Dunham gave me my first role as a girl last year – it was so exciting and validating. And personally, it’s wild to be 29 and going through puberty again. Some days I feel like I’m 14,” she said, noting that there have also been changes in her personal life as well.

“As a result of that shift, the types of romantic partnerships I seek out are different. I was in a nine-year relationship in which I was thought of as a more male-bodied person, with a gay man. I love him so much, but we’ve been learning that as a trans woman, what I’m interested in is not necessarily reflected in a gay man. So we’ve had incredible conversations to redefine our relationship as friends. Transitioning has been liberating and clarifying.” You can read Tommy’s full feature on Time.com.