Tommy Dorfman has come out as transgender and has been “living as a woman” for the last year.
The “13 Reasons Why” star – who is best known for playing Ryan Shaver on the show – has been “living as a woman” for the last year and sees her announcement as being a “reintroduction” of her as she really is.
Tommy told TIME magazine: “For a year now, I have been privately identifying and living as a woman — a trans woman.
“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. 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.”
The 29-year-old star opted not to change her name because she is “very connected” to her moniker.
She said: “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… I am actually myself.”
The ‘Love in the Time of Corona’ star confirmed her marriage to Peter Zurkuhlen has ended as she is now seeking a different “romantic partnership.
She said: “Personally, it’s wild to be 29 and going through puberty again. Some days I feel like I’m 14.
“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.”
Tommy has already booked work as her true self and admitted her “first role as a girl” was “so exciting and validating”.
She added: “I’m thinking about how I can infuse my trans body into film and television.”