Charlie Baca, a transgender teen from Irondale High School in the US had the surprise of his life when it was announced that he would be the school’s 2015 Homecoming King.
Speaking with Minnesota’s Twin Cities Pioneer Press Charlie Baca said that he initially had not realised that his name had been called, having only come out to his parents in August this year.
“It’s still new for me being called Charlie, so when I heard it at first I was like ‘OK.’ And then I was like ‘Oh wait, that’s me! Oh my gosh, I won,'”
“My heart was beating out of my chest, and I’m sure my face went bright red, and my friends in the stands were all hooting and hollering.”
“It was just really euphoric because I’ve been trying so hard to make a difference this year as my senior year, and being crowned king is a really big step that I didn’t think I’d accomplish.”
Baca intends to use the platform of being Homecoming King to start a club for LGBTI students at Irondale High as the school has not had a gay/straight alliance type group for many years.
“In all my four years there hasn’t been a club, and me being a part of the community, I really wanted to change that,” he said.
Baca hopes the club can provide a support group for LGBTI students who are being bullied by their peers.
“I just want to let as many people as possible know that it’s OK, and that there are people you don’t even know about that are supporting you,” he said.
Though Baca is not the first transgender boy to be named Homecoming King in the United States, he is likely the first in the state of Minnesota.
Texas teen Mel Gonzales was named his school’s Homecoming King in September 2014, as was North Carolina student Blake Brockington who tragically took his own life in March 2015.
Last Updated on Sep 29, 2015
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