Transgender college student tells positive story of male transition

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

"Aww," 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.

Once a week, he gives himself a shot of testosterone. Last year, he underwent "top surgery" in Florida.

He's updated his driver s license and passport, changing the sex from "F" to "M". And Dana is ready to share the news with Carson Valley, where he grew up as a girl with his sister, Rita, playing sports, graduating from Douglas High School, and worshipping every weekend with his family at St. Gall Catholic Church.

It's the place where his father, Skip Pardee, has had a thriving chiropractic practice for three decades, where his father and mother, Veronica, have long been involved in community activities.

"I finally acknowledged and came out as transgender last winter, and since then, I have socially and physically transitioned to living full-time as a man," Dana said. "I am happier overall and much more at peace with who I am."

The Pardees are aware of potential backlash with Dana sharing his story in a conservative community.

But, they agree, it's time. And they believe that the people who knew and loved Dana as a girl won't change their minds.

"I feel like a lot of people in rural areas think these types of social issues do not exist where they live, but that is definitely not true," he said.

Just before heading back to the University of Nevada, Reno, where Dana is a senior, he talked about his new life in an interview at his parents' Gardnerville home.

"I want to be able to reach out to people in our community who may be struggling with similar issues," Dana said. "I've recently started doing lots of public speaking and advocacy work, and I absolutely love it."

What has eased the transition is the support of his family.

"It's so rare for a transgender to hear this," he said. "I want people to know you can have a good experience. It's not as scary as you think."

None of the Pardees said Dana's decision came as a surprise.

"Growing up with Dana, when he came out to us, it was like this is who you have been all your life," Rita Pardee said. "It's just a new pronoun. I don't think I've really seen a big change, except that he is incredibly, incredibly happy now."

Dana said he was anxious about coming out to his parents. He confided in his mother two months before he told his father.

"I was terrified to tell them," he said. "Tapes would start playing in my head, fears I would not be welcomed home. That's all you heard about in the transgender community. Every scenario I picked was wrong. I thought A-B-C would happen. I was completely wrong. When I told my dad, he said, 'That's nothing I didn't know.' It was the most anti­climactic moment of my life."

Veronica said one comment she hears frequently is, "I can't believe you guys are so OK with it." "What's the alternative?" she said. "Denial, depression, drugs or suicide? I don't want any of that. Dana is a person with character and a strong moral compass. It was a no-brainer."

While the Pardees said Dana wasn't bullied in grade school, there were occasional looks and comments made toward the little girl with tomboy tendencies.

At age 21 Dana lived in Poland for eight months. She had a boyfriend and taught English.

Dana came home convinced of the need to make a change.

"That was my great experiment," Dana said. "It was a test of who I really am. I don't regret it at all. I learned a lot."