A Delta Air Lines employee stood up to a transgender activist who accused him of having “misgendered” him “intentionally.”
The exchange took place at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York between Tommy Dorfman, a transgender activist and actor known for roles such as Ryan Shaver in “13 Reasons Why” and the Delta employee, who did not refer to Dorfman with female pronouns, according to a video posted to Dorfman’s TikTok account.
“What about when a Delta employee misgenders you intentionally?” Dorfman, who is not seen, but can be heard asking in the video.
@tommy.dorfman when you try to advocate for yourself at @delta ♬ original sound – tommy.dorfman
The Delta employee can be heard attempting to speak to the other passenger, saying, “I’m sorry, while she’s talking….he’s talking, you’re talking over.”
“You just misgendered me again,” Dorfman informs the Delta employee. “Multiple times. Both of you have.”
Tristan, the Delta employee’s name, then tells Dorfman, “Okay, gotcha. It wasn’t intentional, but if you want to take it personal that’s also…”
As Tristan is speaking, Dorfman interrupts to say, “She did do it intentionally. Twice.”
“You’re talking to me too,” the Delta employee says.
“You said she and then you said he,” Dormfan informs Tristan.
Tristan responded to Dorfman’s comment by pushing back, “You’re being condescending. And, if you want to continue I’ll have Port Authority escort you out the building. Right this moment if you want to play that game with me. Would you like me to continue three days before Christmas? I really don’t mind.”
“The man actually called port authority. Two police officers actually showed up – 10 min later and spoke to me and my partner about the incident,” Dorfman said in a now-deleted comment on his TikTok video.
People responded to Dorfman’s video by standing up for the Delta employee and pointing out that Dorfman had been “condescending.”
“This ‘gender’ crap has to stop,” one person wrote. “Y’all get to carried away with it, props to the delta employee.”
Another person wrote: “Why is the customer so condescending. Attitude is just such an a**. The voice is so arrogant. What a professional the delta guy is.”
“The audacity to expect strangers to know what gender you want to be called is insane. Props to this well handled delta employee,” another person wrote.
In a statement to IJR responding to the video, Delta said, “We’re aware of the video and looking into the matter, including reaching out to our customer to understand more about what occurred.”