Dana Pardee: On the path to a new identity

[Shana A]

Dana Pardee: On the path to a new identity
by Sheila Gardner

http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20120909/NEWS/120839952/1062

When Dana Pardee looks at his 2007 high school graduation picture, he sees a beautiful young woman smiling back at him.

"A-w-w," he says. "She's pretty, but she's not me. She's just a shell of the person who I used to be."

Dana, 23, is a year into the process of changing his gender identity from female to male.

With family and friends, Dana corrects pronoun usage from "she" to "he" and "hers" to "his" when he is the topic of the conversation.