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This Trans Teen Was Kicked Out of His Christian High School, Crowned Homecoming King at New One
"God forced me out of that situation, that school."
Meet Stiles Zuschlag, a 17-year-old high school student who was on track to be valedictorian at Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth, New Hampshire.
When the 17-year-old met with a school administrator in August about being identified as male, he was shocked when he was asked to "confess his sins, stop taking testosterone treatments, and receive Christian counseling." If he refused, he'd be forced to leave the school.
Zuschlag chose the latter, and despite his fears about being the new kid, he enrolled in Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine, just seven miles away.
As he began to make friends at his new school, he joked about being nominated for homecoming king. "I asked on Snapchat as a joke to put me in," he told HuffPost. His peers took his request a bit more seriously than he did. "People actually did it. I didn’t really expect them to. I still can’t believe they did that for me."
He'd be even more shocked when he showed up to the game and won the homecoming king crown. "After I won at the homecoming game, I almost started crying. My friends all put me in, people I didn’t even know put me in, everyone voted for me on the final ballot," he said. "This experience feels like a dream. It’s something I never thought could have happened to me."
The outpouring of love and acceptance astonished Zuschlag.
"I’ve been degraded so much in the past, I’ve conformed to other people’s beliefs and standards just to make them happy and comfortable. I’ve put myself in situations really hurtful to my mental health just to keep peace," he explained. "God forced me out of that situation, that school, knowing that my mental health was far more important than my education. The only reason I stayed at the school for so long was for my education, for my GPA, and to just learn about God. But I was also dying there mentally and I suffered a lot."
"God took me away from that to help me be a better person, to breathe again, to be happy again. I’m so grateful He did that for me."
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
