13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman, best known for portraying Ryan Shaver in the Netflix series, announced she is transgender.
The 29-year-old made the announcement on Instagram, saying she was “thrilled to reintroduce myself as the woman I am today. my pronouns are she/her.”
Dorfman paid tribute to the transgender community on Instagram, adding:
“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. 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 was cast as Ryan Shaver in Netflix hit series 13 Reasons Why in 2017. That same year, the actress identified as non-binary and later changed her pronouns to they/them.
She has since appeared in numerous series and most recently starred in the miniseries Love in the Time of Corona.
The actress has documented her transition on her Instagram page and revealed to Time Magazine that she has been “privately identifying and living as a woman—a trans woman” for one year.
Dorfman ‘redefines’ relationship with husband Peter Zurkuhlen
In 2016, Dorfman married Peter Zurkulen in Portland, Maine. During her interview with Time Magazine, the actress does not clarify whether she has ended her marriage to Zurkuhlen but instead says they are transitioning their relationship to a friendship.
Dorfman admitted the transition made her change the type of relationship she is seeking and then added the following:
“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.”
The actress explains keeping the name Tommy
Most transgender people change their names to match their new identity; however, the 13 Reasons Why star choose to keep her birth name.
She told Torrey Peters for Time Magazine that she will not change her name. Tommy revealed she was named after her uncle, who died a month after she was born and thus feels connected to the name, adding that the uncle held her as he was dying.