Blake Brockington

Blake Brockington, a freshman at University of Carolina, Charlotte, committed suicide Monday night.

Brockington, 18, broke barriers as the first trans homecoming king at his North Carolina high school. The national response to his homecoming win, while beneficial in some ways, caused Brockington some strife. “That was single-handedly the hardest part of my trans journey. Really hateful things were said on the Internet. It was hard. I saw how narrow-minded the world really is,” Brockington told his local newspaper in 2014.

Brockington continued activist work after high school, speaking at his local Transgender Day of Remembrance rally and being photographed by the To Speak No Evil Civil Collective.

Brockington’s death is the sixth known suicide of a trans youth this year.

h/t The Advocate

Photo:  Blake Brockington/Facebook