Transgender teen becomes homecoming queen a year after coming out

(WTXF) - A transgender teenager was voted homecoming queen after coming out last year.

17-year-old Landon Patterson was elected to the royal position at her Kansas City, Missouri high school on Saturday.

Patterson is a senior at Oak Park High School and came out as transgender during her junior year. She received a surprisingly supportive reaction.

"When I came out as trans I was so afraid that I was expecting a lot of hate, but surprisingly there wasn't much at all," she said to BuzzFeed News.

"There was some here and there but it was stuff that was never said to my face."

Patterson also told Buzzfeed that the possibility of becoming homecoming queen was something she never thought would happen. She said that the big reveal "felt too good to be true."

"To be elected homecoming queen was an amazing feeling," she said.

"I was so excited that my peers felt so accepting of me and excited that I was making history for the trans/LGBT community."

And Patterson was on the receiving end of more support from friends, strangers, and leaders at the school, such as the cheerleading coach.

According to Buzzfeed, Patterson has a message for other transgender kids.

"Do what will make you happy," she said.

"Life is too short to try and please others.

"So be yourself and rock it with confidence. Confidence will take you a long way when you're different. It will let people know you're sure of yourself and that is a very hard thing to be.

"So do what your heart wants and rock it out. We aren't given enough time so it's important we do what makes us happy."