A transgender teen in Huntington Beach, Calif. is making history after being named one of the top 10 contenders for the homecoming queen title at her local high school.
Cassidy Lynn Campbell, a 16-year-old at Marina High School and popular YouTube video blogger, discovered last week that she was in the running for the title of homecoming queen. CBS reports that while the teen has experienced some adversity in response to her gender identity, Campbell -- who has been living as a woman for three years -- is ecstatic at the nomination's prospect as most students at Marina High have embraced her as a transgender individual.
"I'm a girl and if my school could recognize me as what I've always wanted the world to recognize me as my entire life, then it would be such an accomplishment," Campbell says in the above video. "It's okay to be transgender and it doesn't matter what kind of girl you are -- you can still be a queen."
Transgender identity within the public school system has been brought the forefront of national consciousness since California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a groundbreaking bill early last month. The legislation enables all public school students grades K-12 to "participate in sex-segregated programs, activities and facilities" that correspond with their personal gender identity and self-perception. While some have argued against the bill's passage, many transgender youth fought and advocated for the right to not be regulated by sex-segregated social spaces and organizations within the public school system.
Campbell is not the first transgender woman to be considered for homing queen of her educational institution. In 2009, history was made as Jessee Vasold received the homecoming queen crown at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Additionally, earlier this year Katie Couric interviewed 19-year-old named Devon who transferred to a different high school and her peers remained unaware that she was biologically a boy. The student body ultimately voted Devon the school's "Junior Homecoming Princess."
Marina High School will announce its homecoming queen on Sept. 20. In the meantime, check out one of Cassidy's popular YouTube videos below, "Boy to Girl Full Body Transformation."
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