NEW BRIGHTON — A teenager who was crowned the first transgender homecoming king at his suburban Twin Cities high school said his accomplishment is “a really big step” toward his goal of helping lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

Charlie Baca, 17, was crowned Friday at Irondale High School in New Brighton. Baca is the first transgender homecoming king at the school of about 1,600 students, Associate Principal Andrew Mons said.

Baca told the St. Paul Pioneer Press his one goal for his senior year was to pave the way for LGBT underclassmen who may not have come out and are struggling.

“I wanted to kind of help them by showing them that it’s not as scary as the stories they might have heard … that our culture nowadays has become more accepting,” Baca said.

Baca said he was “really euphoric” about being crowned homecoming king “because I’ve been trying so hard to make a difference this year as my senior year, and being crowned king is a really big step that I didn’t think I’d accomplish.”