Tommy Dorfman blasts first-class seatmate over transphobic texts: 'Alt-Right Vampire'

As if air travel weren’t already painful enough for transgender people, Tommy Dorfman was apparently seated next to a nightmare passenger on a recent flight.

On Friday, the 13 Reasons Why actor shared video and images of text messages that her first-class seatmate was apparently sending to multiple contacts in his phone. The texts were transphobic and full of disdain for Dorfman simply for... sitting in her seat on a flight.

“I am in the first aisle of First Class. Guess what is sitting next to me?” the mystery man wrote in the first image Dorfman shared. “A fucking transsexual in the midst of going from a man to a woman Just my luck I was hoping for a hot babe!!”

Dorfman shared the images in a carousel story on her Instagram.

Not only did the man, whom Dorfman dubbed an “alt right vampire,” apparently text a group chat about sitting next to her, he additionally seems to have messaged multiple other contacts with copy-pasted messages mocking her. The final image in the carousel shows the man texting no fewer than eight separate threads about Dorfman.

The texting spree was met with at least some pushback. In one image, the man is shown texting a friend of his, named Samantha, who urges Dorfman’s seatmate to “be kind.”

“Just remember many people you love are lgbtq+ and this country sucks for them right now,” the person wrote. In the image, the man is writing a text back, still unsent, that says, “This guy is a freak.”

Dorfman wrote below the image, “wait Samantha ily girl.”

In a caption accompanying the shocking post, Dorfman wrote about her own transition and her feelings around not “passing.”

“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,” she wrote. “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.”

She then called out “the audacity” of the passenger on her flight, whom she further alleged made “deeply misogynistic and revolting comments” about the flight attendants.

“Him typing over and over ‘2 and a half hours of sitting next to this freak’ is peak derangement,” one person wrote in response to Dorfman’s post.

“The multiple copy pastes of the same message seeking extra validation for his feelings is taking me out,” another person wrote.

Finally, another person wrote, “Lord give me the patience and restraint of Samantha.”

Dorfman’s story is another reminder that trans people are often being monitored simply for existing in public. A recent Wired story exposed Madison Square Garden CEO Jim Dolan and his security team for allegedly tracking a trans woman’s every moment while at the arena, including down-to-the-second updates about her bathroom usage and proximity to the main floor.

This story was originally published on Them.