Actress Tommy Dorfman isn’t afraid to call out people who have a problem with her transgender identity.
“Objectively, I know I’m not ‘passing’ and I’m ‘bricky’ and ‘clocky’ but passing hasn’t been the point for me nor should it be for any trans person,” Dorfman, 33, wrote via Instagram on Friday, May 1. “We are all allowed to evolve in any way that feels true and that evolution can expand and contract. It’s always been about alignment and autonomy for my own comfort, not the comfort of others or the expectations of society.”
Dorfman claimed that she was sitting next to a man on a recent flight, who allegedly texted a group chat about her.
“I am in the first aisle of first class. Guess what is sitting next to me? A f***ing transsexual in the midst of going from a man to a woman,” the alleged text read, per a screenshot shared via Dorfman’s account. “Just my luck. I was hoping for a hot babe.”
The 13 Reasons Why actress was admittedly offended by the individual’s messages.
“The audacity of this man so blatantly blasting off texts about me (sparing you the deeply misogynistic and revolting comments on our flight attendants in contrast to my freak) only reaffirms the choices I’ve made for myself to feel safe and comfortable in my body and spirit,” she stated. “This does come at the cost of safety and comfort in the world, especially in America, and that’s not without consequence internally and externally.”
Dorfman added, “I am lucky to have the life I have, the ability to fly freely (for now), and even post s*** like this, and why post, you may wonder? Because I can and this man is an alt-right vampire.”
Dorfman publicly came out as transgender in 2021.
“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,” she told TIME in July 2021 of her identity. “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.”
Subscribe to newsletters 
She continued, “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. But I recognize that transitioning is beautiful. Why not let the world see what that looks like?”
Dorfman has since taken her experience to the big screen, directing the 2025 film I Wish You All the Best about a nonbinary teen’s journey.
“When I grew up I didn’t have social media to even build trans community, and we have so much access to that in the real world, but I still hadn’t really seen a nonbinary character in a film in cinema centered at the heart of the story in a story like this,” Dorfman exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2025. “My hope is that you can do less work trying to compartmentalize yourself to relate to cis characters and you can find some ease watching a movie like this with Ben’s story and synergy and you can just really enjoy the ride.”
