Actress Tommy Dorfman, who is best known for playing the role of Ryan Shaver in the hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, has become the subject of a now-viral incident in which she accuses a Delta gate agent of ‘misgendering’ her as he stumbles over the correct way to address the trans actress.
Dorfman, who appears to prefer to be described as an actress rather than an actor or female actor, got into an argument with the Delta agent just three days before Christmas, prompting the airline employee to threaten to have Dorfman thrown out the airport and miss the holidays.
In a short TikTok video, which has now been viewed more than 150,000 times, the trans actress says she was the victim of ‘transphobia’ and a ‘human rights violation’ after the agent referred to Dorfman as a ‘he’ rather than a ‘she’.
In 2017, Dorfman came out as non-binary – a term used to describe people who don’t identify exclusively as male or female, and at the time time, she started to use the ‘they/them’ pronouns.
In mid-2021, however, Dorfman came out as a transgender woman and began using the ‘she’ pronoun.
“When you try to advocate for yourself at Delta and are met with even more transphobia and threats of being arrested at Laguardia,” Dorfman wrote on her TikTok to accompany the interaction with the Delta employee.
We don’t know what occurred before Dorfman started videoing the incident, but it starts with Dorfman accusing the Delta agent of deliberately misgendering her.
As the Delta agent turns to address another passenger, the agent appears to use the ‘he’ pronoun to describe Dorfman accidentally. When challenged, the agent says it wasn’t intentional.
“If you want to take it personal, that’s also…” the agent fires back before being spoken over by Dorfman, who accuses the other passengers of deliberately misgendering her.
The passenger is heard saying ‘sorry’ to Dorfman before he addresses the agent again.
“You’re being condescending, and if you want to continue, I’ll have the Port Authority escort you out the building right this moment if you want to play that game with me… Do you want to continue three days before Christmas, I really don’t mind”.
In late 2020, Delta Air Lines became the first major U.S.-based airline to ditch gender-specific language during inflight announcements, switching out terms like “ladies and gentlemen” for “hello everyone”.
At the time, the airline said it was part of a wider effort to make Delta as inclusive as possible.
“Promoting inclusion throughout the travel journey is core to creating a safe, comfortable and respectful space for all of our customers and employees,” a spokesperson explained.
Whiney. Why must every post everything that happens to them? I had to wait in line “POST” They ran out of coffee “POST”
Life is unfair “POST” No joke. Don’t you think your grandparents had it easy? The great depression–food rationing–then WWII?