Shattering the Gender Boxes

By Josh Ballard
Published: Monday, September 20, 2010

http://www.louisvillecardinal.com/2.4743/news/shattering-the-gender-boxes-1.2335922

On any given day he dons a mohawk, a pair of square-framed glasses, the slightest hint of peach-fuzz on the upper lip, and an outfit coordinated to transmit ambiguity.

It is 11 a.m. on Sept. 16, a Thursday.

Tyler Donovan has on a pair of navy Converse tennis shoes, black gym shorts and a knit sweater with a giant, grinning picture of Mickey Mouse weaved into its front. The last item he proudly obtained at a gender-neutral clothing swap the night before.

"I never want to be fully male, or for people to see me as a man who was born a man," Donovan said.