A photo of a young gay man being crowned homecoming royalty at his high school has been shared around the world.

Seventeen year old Brandon Allen, who identifies as gay, was honoured as the homecoming royalty at White Station High School in Memphis Tennessee.

This year the students at the school decided to remove the gender based awards of homecoming King and Queen, and instead just anoint some gender neutral royalty.

“Thank you to everyone who has contributed to me becoming queen,” Allen wrote on his Instagram profile. “You guys truly looked stunningly beautiful and I am so honored to have been able to walk with you guys!!”

The photo has been shared thousands of times on social media and the school’s principal has spoken about how proud she is of the students.

“It’s the students’ choice of who they want to support as homecoming royalty. I’m exceedingly proud to be the principal of our amazing school,” Carrye Holland wrote on the school’s Facebook page.

The picture was taken by 16 year old Emmett Campbell, who is transgender.

“It was such an incredible thing to witness. It was a moment of acceptance and validation for the LGBT+ community from our entire school.” Campbell told NBC News.

OIP Staff