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Transgender homecoming queen later wonders if it was ‘worth it’

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A transgender teen who was cheered by students and parents when she was named homecoming queen at a Huntington Beach high school said she later wondered whether it was “even worth it.”

In an emotional, nearly nine-minute YouTube video, Cassidy Lynn Campbell said she was hurt and stunned by the negative and hateful comments directed at her after her victory.

Campbell, still wearing her tiara and homecoming sash in the recording, said the attacks made her feel like “going back to being miserable” and that perhaps she should “just be a boy and hate myself again … just so everyone can shut up and leave me alone.”

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In an interview with The Times after her victory, Campbell said she ran for homecoming queen to make a statement about equality for transgender people and was heartened by the response from students, her parents and school administrators.

She said she had celebrated her victory by going to a Norms diner with about 15 friends, then went home, where she saw the attacks on social media sites.

“I know I need to be strong, and I know I need to be strong for the kids I did this for, for the people I did this for,” she said in the video.

After recording the video, part of a collection of YouTube videos the teen has posted, Campbell seemed to gather herself and post a direct message:

“I am usually a very strong and confident person, but i have my moments too. although there was alot was positive feedback, there was alot of negative too, and the negative affected me more than it ever has before. i recorded this because i didnt know how else to vent, i didnt want to talk to anybody.”

A Chicago-based blogger and marketing professional later posted an open letter to Campbell:

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“Keep being strong, keep being resilient, Cassidy. Keep being you,” Parker Marie Molloy wrote. “Is it fair that you’ve become the target of such hate and ignorance for nothing other than being yourself?

“Absolutely not. I know things can be hard, but anything worth fighting for usually is.”

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joseph.serna@latimes.com

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steve.marble@latimes.com

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