Trans teen voted homecoming queen (VIDEO)
Landon Patterson was crowned homecoming queen after becoming the first openly trans student at her high school.
The senior class at Oak Park High School in Kansas City crowned the school’s first openly trans student as their queen over the weekend – after she bravely came out to classmates earlier this year.
Following her victory speech, Patterson said: “I’ve dreamed about it since my freshman year, but I never knew it was possible for me.
“Just knowing that I did this, and that I just broke some barriers, I can’t even put it into words what I’m feeling right now,” she told KCTV5.
“I’m just excited and hope this is going to help others out there.”
The cheerleader was nominated for the crown by her classmates last month – having only come out as transgender last May.
“She has so much strength that I just envy. She’s just beautiful and I love her,” Orie Agbaji, another contender for the crown, said.
Patterson’s mother Debbie – who rode alongside her daughter in the school’s Homecoming Parade – added that she would always support her daughter.
“That’s my child. You have to back your children,” she said, asking fellow parents to ask themselves what they would do in her position.
“The haters out there, I just want to say, ‘What would you say if it was your child?’”
Last week, it was revealed that hundreds of students had walked out of a high school over a trans girl’s request to use the girls’ locker rooms.
Lila Perry last year came out as trans and for the rest of the school year she was asked to use a unisex changing facility.
However this year, she returned and said she would rather use the female changing rooms. She has lived as female since the age of 13.
Watch Landon’s reaction to her well-deserved win below:
