A transgender teen who was voted homecoming queen of a California high school was reduced to tears hours after being crowned because of negative comments about her.
Sixteen-year-old Cassidy Lynn Campbell posted a video on YouTube she describes how she had never been so hurt on what should have been the "happiest day of my life".
She said: "It's just sad that everyone has to be so judgmental about it, and so hateful, and so mean and so negative.
"I've never done anything to any of these people. And I don't know why they have to be this way, when I've done nothing to them. It just hurts so bad because I feel just as much of a girl as all of them do... Everyone is just so ignorant."
"Sometimes I wonder, is it even worth it? And if I should just go back to being miserable and just be a boy...so everyone will just shut up and leave me alone."
It is a far cry from the message she had for people after being the first transgender homecoming queen at her school and only the second in the US.
Speaking of her achievement, she said: "I realized it wasn’t for me anymore and I was doing this for so many people all around the county and the state and possibly the world and I am so proud to win this not just for me, but everyone out there."
Campbell began taking hormone blockers and estrogen injections in high school to transition, according to the Los Angeles Times, and has documented her journey in videos on her YouTube channel, LanceMize. She decided to run for homecoming queen this year to make a statement.