After Tommy Dorfman announced her identity as a trans woman in a Time magazine interview, her loved ones are publicly showing their support.
Last week Dorfman’s husband, Peter Zurkuhlen, shared her July 22 “reintroduction” post on Instagram — which featured portraits from Dorfman’s Time photoshoot — on his own page. In an Instagram Story, he added a heartfelt note to his partner. “So much love,” Zurkuhlen said. “You are gorgeous and you are fully you. Proud of you, T.”
The couple married in 2016, and last month they appeared together in a Pride campaign for the clothing brand BOSS.
In her TIME interview with Detransition, Baby author Torrey Peters, Dorfman spoke of life with her husband today. “I was in a nine-year relationship in which I was thought of as a more male-bodied person, with a gay man,” she said. “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.”
Dorfman confessed that coming into her trans identity, however, has altered their relationship. “So we’ve had incredible conversations to redefine our relationship as friends,” she said. “Transitioning has been liberating and clarifying.”
The 29-year-old actress, who has also appeared in Love, Victor and Jane the Virgin, has likewise been met with support from fellow celebrities after sharing her story with the world. Dorfman’s 13 Reasons Why co-stars Brandon Flynn and Katherine Langford both commented on her Instagram post, alongside Pose co-creator Steven Canals and Star Trek: Discovery actor Wilson Cruz.
The Crown actor Emma Corrin, who came out as queer in April and recently clarified that they use she/they pronouns, joined in the chorus of love. “I AM SO PROUD OF YOU @tommy.dorfman,” said Corrin, who plays Princess Diana on the Netflix series. “Thank you for being YOU, for sharing this. We see you, we love you.”
Dorfman responded to the outpouring of support with an Instagram story of her own. “Speechless,” she said. “I love you all. Thank you so much.”
In Dorfman’s Time interview, she clarified that she does not view news of her trans identity as a “coming out.” “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.”
Dorfman added that she won’t be changing her name to something more stereotypically feminine.
“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,” she said. “This is an evolution of Tommy. I’m becoming more Tommy.”
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