On Friday, the first transgender homecoming queen was named in a high school in Huntington Beach, California. After winning the title, Cassidy Lynn Campbell posted a YouTube video venting about the negative responses that she has received.

“I’m always judged and I’m always looked down upon and I’m always made fun of,” she said. “Sometimes, I wonder, is it even worth it?”

Up until three years ago, Cassidy lived as Lance Campbell. She said she made the choice to live life as a girl was a very difficult decision. “This is how I’ve always been and this is how I’ve always felt. It’s not a choice,” she said. “This is something I’ve wanted for so long.”

Cassidy has received a lot of criticism from the community. “They think that I’m just a boy doing this for fun, and I’m just a boy dressing up as a girl and trying to win a crown when that is completely the opposite of what it is,” she said. “I’ve always seen myself as a girl.”

In the description of her YouTube video Cassidy said: “I am usually a very strong and confident person, but I have my moments too. although there was a lot was positive feedback, there was a lot of negative too, and the negative affected me more than it ever has before. I recorded this because I didn’t know how else to vent, I didn’t want to talk to anybody.”

Image via Facebook
Video via NDN