Video: US’ first transgender homecoming queen reduced to tears over hateful online messages
A transgender student made US history this week when she was crowned homecoming queen of a California school. However, despite support from classmates, she has also been the target of a malicious and “ignorant” cyber-bullying onslaught.
Cassidy Lynn Campbell released a tearful video following her achievement at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California, explaining why she could not be happy despite it being one of her proudest moments.
Speaking on her YouTube channel, still wearing her sash and crown, she said: “The one day that should be the happiest day for a girl, that should be so monumental and memorable…I can’t even enjoy it.
“I can’t even be happy because everybody is so upset over it and so ignorant and so stupid. I don’t know why this happens.”
She added: “I’m always judged, and I’m always looked down upon, and I’m always made fun of… Sometimes I wonder if its even worth it, and I should go back to being miserable.
“I don’t understand why people have to be so ignorant and not understand. I am a girl, and I’ve always felt like a girl ever since I was a baby… I just want to be happy because I deserve to be happy, just like any other human. To be happy is all I want.”
Despite negative comments, Ms Campbell has also received a great deal of online support.
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello sent out a congratulatory message on Twitter yesterday which read:
Congrats to Cassidy Lynn Campbell, the USA’s first transgender homecoming queen! Marina Highschool Orange County, well done
— Tom Morello (@tmorello) September 21, 2013
Ms Campbell said in an interview that running for homecoming queen was initially all about her, but that changed as she began to see the bigger picture.
She told KTLA: “I realised it wasn’t for me anymore and I was doing this for so many people all around the county and the state and possibly the world and I am so proud to win this not just for me, but everyone out there.”
Ms Campbell said she now wants to become an LGBT activist and has this message for other transgender teens: “Just to be true to themselves and to let people know around them and to not keep it bottled up inside.”
