Tommy Dorfman Wants Cis Allies to 'Take Action' Not Only on Trans Day of Visibility: 'Fight with Us'

"If one person's under attack, we're all under attack," Tommy Dorfman tells PEOPLE of the nearly 250 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation currently under consideration across the U.S.

Tommy Dorfman attends the CHANEL party to celebrate the debut of CHANEL N°5 In the Stars at Rockefeller Center on November 05, 2021 in New York City.
Photo: Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Tommy Dorfman is empowering trans people and cis allies alike this week for International Transgender Day of Visibility.

The 13 Reasons Why alum, 29, tells PEOPLE she hopes to "just inspire one person, one cis person who reads this, to take action in their community" every day of the year as she participates in a virtual conversation for Visible's TDOV campaign.

She points to the nearly 250 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation being considered across the country in 2022 alone as a need for support. "I think it's very much the sentiment of, if one person's under attack, we're all under attack," Dorfman says, recommending Trans-Week.com as a valuable resource.

"I think it's really important that we can come together, not just on one day, not just on Trans Day of Visibility," she adds. "But as you can see, these pieces of legislation that are targeting trans children primarily right now, and LGBTQ people nationwide, people are fighting to dismiss us, to endanger us, to kill us every single day of the year."

Dorfman, who reintroduced herself as a trans woman last July in an interview with TIME, also emphasizes the importance of visibility when it came to her own journey with gender identity.

"I think the more trans people I came in contact with, the safer I felt acknowledging that part of myself and making some choices to come home to my truest, most authentic self," she explains. "I think we don't know what we don't know.

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"We've all had different types of awakenings and different types of transitions in our lives," says Dorfman. "And the more I saw people comfortable in their bodies, specifically trans-feminine people, the more content I saw around the trans-feminine experience, the safer I felt to come out and to live my life authentically, and that there would be space for me too."

Dorfman is one of several influential trans voices participating in Visible's TDOV campaign, sharing a conversation with Matt Bernstein. Visible has utilized funds to support Trans Lifeline through their virtual accelerator program Visible Connect, and this TDOV, they're making a donation to the It Gets Better Project.

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