Tommy Dorfman
Pride is a time to celebrate our community, publicly display our love for one another, and continue our protest of equality that stems back to the BlackCat and Stonewall Riots.Collection: Equality
I'm a Taurus.
I can cook, but I just don't.
I'm a cleaner, a put-er away-er, an organizer of things.
I try to spend as little time thinking about myself as possible. I find that's not a constructive way to live.
As nice as it is to make an appearance at an event, I don't find that the most fulfilling way to support an organization.
I thought my first few jobs would just be off, off, off, off, off broadway. And by chance and how the world works, I ended up on a TV show instead.
I was an acting major.
I think for me, I just love that trust you have with theater and your ensemble and people you are working with.
I love just being in the moment, and the most present I feel in my work is with theatre.
There always has to be a coming out. There's never just a gender-nonconforming person who exists on a TV show without some screaming on-the-street moment.
Instead of going to a GLAAD event and standing on a soapbox, I am writing roles that I feel will change the narrative and open doors.
I decided that I was going to stop trying to convince older, more established heads of studios or networks to understand me and get me, and focus more on developing relationships with people who already do.
'13 Reasons Why' includes LGBTQ people and people of color in stories without making it about that. They're just living, breathing, human beings who happen to be different from the white, cis, straight norm.
It's important to celebrate how far we have come while also fighting for justice for those who are still not safe as a result of how they identify.
I love being home and being cozy, even if it's in a nightgown and some UGG boots!
But basically, at the end of the day, I want to do meaningful work that I'm proud of - whether only 3 people see it or 300,000,000.
I feel like, almost overnight, and this is weird to say about myself, I've become a queer advocate without even meaning to.
I'm a people pleaser, and I want to help everyone who DM's me, so I make sure to promote organizations that fans can reach out to if they're struggling.
There was a period where I was like, 'I'm gonna have to be in the closet if I want to be successful.' But then I sort of made the decision right when I graduated college that that wasn't going to be my route. Even if it took longer to get work, I at least was gonna be true to myself.
When I was in high school, there weren't a lot of out gay actors playing gay roles. I didn't see myself represented truthfully in the media.
I feel like Hollywood likes to use gay people to tell either really sad gay stories starring straight actors, or everything's about a struggle. Everything's about coming out. Nothing was about just living and breathing as a human being who happens to be gay.
It was exciting to play a gay person in high school who's really proud of himself and isn't dealing with the sort of typical story line - the coming-out story - but is already out and sort of an advocate in his own way.
It's important for teenagers, young adults, parents, teachers, really everyone to see what the true High School experience is.
I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, the youngest of five. There's something about being the youngest and wanting to be seen. You're like, 'I want attention, notice me.'
I always shopped in the girls' section during elementary school.
When I wear makeup, it's never intense; I don't do drag. My style has always been naturalistic and then a pop of color for the eye.
I have a big problem with cis straight men. I'm sort of discriminatory against them and it's going to take work for me to find a way to build a relationship with those people and trust that those people can be allies.
This idea that you can 'cure' homosexuality is appalling and simply not true.
LGBTQIA inclusion in media, especially TV and film, is not just important, it's essential.
There is no Cura Gay, there's just gay. Or not. Or however you identify, and nobody should have say over something so personal and inherent.
When I heard the news of Waldemar de Carvalho issuing a ruling to approve gay conversion therapy in Brazil, after it was banned for nearly 20 years, my heart broke. So many of my fans and supporters live in Brazil and it pains me to see them not feel legitimized for who they are and who they are attracted to.
Maybe I've limited my opportunities by being so open about my sexuality, but my thinking is that, if I come out of the gates this way, then it's not really going to be a big deal in a couple of years.
I was that gay kid in high school who didn't have a lot of close friends but circulated amongst groups of people when necessary.
'13 Reasons Why' was my first professional job out of college, so I don't have much to compare it to.
I would like to know how to get my name stamped on a coconut so when people come over to my house I can just hand them one with my name on it.
I was like the party kid. I was a social butterfly.
I was not into school at all.
I love New York. I love to people watch. I can't leave.
It's really rare that you find a designer who's willing to dress people who maybe present more masculine in their womenswear.
It's so important to have a brand as big as UGG celebrating young LGBTQ-plus people and giving them a safe space to feel worthy and loved.
Being young is hard. Being young and queer is even harder, regardless of how accepting your parents or community are.
It's challenging to find self-love when there's confusion and you're living in a world that's seemingly very binary and black and white.
Be kind to yourself and take the time you need to define your gender and sexuality in a way that feels safe and right for you.
I've been wearing makeup for as long as I can remember. I started by playing with my mom's lipsticks, then in ballet I would apply my own stage makeup.
I loved experimenting with eyeshadow and lip gloss in my tween years.
I love when an outfit embodies the fluidity of my gender - it makes me feel the most confident and grounded, especially when attending fashion shows, which can be extremely overwhelming.
In the beginning, editorial always inspired my beauty looks, but we're living in a primarily digital age, and Instagram is a great source - as is Pinterest - to find brilliant ideas that spark new ideas in me and the talented makeup artists I work with.
To work with a brand like ASOS that reaches such a young audience and to spread the message of GLAAD is exciting.
I loved having bonfires in the winter with my friends in the backyard.