About The Tomboy Project
My name is Miki Lorren and I launched The Tomboy Project 13 days after the sudden death of my father, Boone Cutler. I started this project as a way to show young girls that there is nothing wrong with not fitting within the typical realm of femininity. I took this step following my experience growing up as a tomboy and being told that I may be transgender/nonbinary/genderfluid because I was a boyish girl who liked fishing and short hair. At one point I asked my parents for a chest binder as a teen, I thank God every day for their sanity and saying no.
Early 2025 I stood in the doorway of my dads garage with him. "I want to start a space, a community, SOMETHING for the girls like me, but even for the girls who were transitioned. what should I call it? Project Tomboy? Maybe The Tomboy Project?" I said to him. "The Tomboy Project." He instantly replied. Following this we spoke for about 30 minutes about how to launch, how to speak to people, how to get their attention. That night I went to sleep and by morning I woke with an idea for a photoshoot idea that would speak volumes and launch The Tomboy Project. I contacted my friend and photographer Maggie Wegner, she was on board. We were ready to move forward.
The evening of September 17th, we pulled off the photoshoot. Before 10am on September 18th, my father was pronounced dead from a sudden cardiac event, just an hour after sending me a voice memo telling me how he would be home from his work trip soon and that he loved me.
My world turned upside down. I debated pushing back the launch for a couple months. I knew that my father wouldn't have wanted me to wait any longer.
The Tomboy Project was launched 13 days later on October 1st, 2025.
My father dedicated his life to saving Veteran lives through suicide prevention by creating The Spartan Sword. I watched him show up for America's Heroes in their most vulnerable moments and save their lives. I am not a veteran, but I am a person who had a deadly ideology pushed on them that results in a 12x higher suicide attempt risk, an ideology that results in rates that range from 48% to 322% increase in severity of various mental health disorders. The work of The Tomboy Project isn't just to spread a message, it's to save lives.
