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audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - Faith Yewdall had to take a deep breath. Her six-year-old son Ziya had decided at the last minute to change from a Spiderman shirt to his favorite 'rock star' dress before heading out to a friend's birthday party. ''Part of me said, 'Yes, finally!' Another part of me said, 'Oh no, I haven't had time to prepare for this.' But I was excited because he was so excited,'' Faith explained. She describes Ziya as gender-fluid, an internal overlap of masculine and feminine gender traits and expression. He doesn't fit the traditional boxes of boy or girl. It's been eight months since Ziya showed excitement about much of anything. Traumatic bullying in his first two weeks of kindergarten caused her sensitive and creative child to shut down a large part of his personality. ''A part of him died in those two weeks. I watched the light go out of my child's eyes,'' she said. ''But when he put on that dress and started bouncing around, the joy that I feared had disappeared was back,'' she said. ''The light was on again.''
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 11, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL plays with LEGO toy parts. Yewdall loves pink, 'My Little Pony' toys and clothes, Barbie dolls, sparkly head bands and dresses. Ziya considers himself to be a boy, but maybe a girl, too.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 11, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - Playing 'hair salon,' ZIYA YEWDALL styles his mother FAITH'S hair. 'Ziya is gender-fluid,' explains Faith.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 12, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL talks with his favorite 'My Little Pony' toys.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 11, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL dances for mom, dad and sister, wearing his favorite dress with his face painted from a birthday party earlier in the day. FAITH and Ziya's dad ELI support and affirm their child's gender identity and expression, which might be more boyish one day and more feminine the next.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 26, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL cuddles with dad ELI at a neighborhood park. Yewdall loves pink, My Little Pony toys and clothes, Barbie dolls, sparkly head bands and dresses.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 29, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL, 5, on the first day of school. Yewdall was assigned male at birth but has traits and preferences that society sees as more female than male. Ziya's mother describes Ziya as 'gender-fluid,' falling between male and female.
© Family photo//zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 12, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL in the park. 'Ziya is gender-fluid,' explains Faith Yewdall, Ziya's mother.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 26, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - With mother FAITH, lending a hand, ZIYA YEWDALL works his way across the bars at a neighborhood park.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 26, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - FAITH and ZIYA YEWDALL talk at a neighborhood park.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 26, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL chose a girl's one-piece swimsuit to wear while playing with friends in a backyard pool.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 12, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL and sister ADA color in the family's living room that doubles as a homeschool classroom.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 26, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL and little sister ADA help choose a name for one of Ziya's many dolls with help from two of Ziya's girlfriends.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 26, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL sings songs to one of his cherished dolls.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 1, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL plays with a toy robot and blonde Barbie doll.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 12, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL and 2-year-old sister ADA play in the back yard.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 1, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL and mom FAITH visit their neighborhood coffee shop.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 26, 2015 - Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - ZIYA YEWDALL takes a moment to rest in a colorful tunnel at the park. Faith and Ziya's dad Eli support and affirm's their child's gender identity and expression, which might be more boyish one day and more feminine the next. 'Ziya is a mix of both genders, falling somewhere in the middle,' Faith explains.
© Robin Rayne/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press

Robin Rayne

ROBIN RAYNE is an Atlanta based, internationally published magazine and newspaper photojournalist and documentary film producer, specializing in developmental disability issues, human rights and social justice concerns. Spanning a 35 year national magazine career, his work has appeared in Newsweek, Time, Business Week, Forbes, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, DOUBLEtruck Magazine, Paris Match, zReportage.com and Der Spiegel, among dozens more. Robin's stories and projects have been syndicated globally by ZUMA Press since the agency's beginning in 1993. Robin and his wife Kyla live in Canton, Georgia with their trusty dog Seamus a Wheaten terrier.:575


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