CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 17-year-old senior at East Meck High School in North Carolina has become the state’s first transgender teen to be crowned Homecoming King.
The announcement was made during a halftime ceremony inside the school gym Friday night, reports WCNC-TV.
Blake Brockington received national attention earlier this following the nomination by his peers. He was among 13 seniors competing for the title.
Blake won by collecting the most money for the school’s chosen charity, Mothering Across Continents, a non-profit organization that funds the building of schools in the Sudan.
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“Throughout my life I haven’t always been treated equally as a male, so I’ve always wanted this and everybody has told me I couldn’t do it. ‘You are a girl,’ even though I’ve always identified myself as a male,” said Blake.
Teacher Bill Allen, the student advisor for the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, said East Meck is known as a school of diversity, and that Blake’s achievement is the first step in representing what many of the students believe.
Blake says he plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the fall, and will continue his extracurricular activities, which includes mentoring transgender youth.
