NORTH BERWICK, Maine (AP) — A transgender Maine teen who said he was kicked out of his former high school for his gender identity has been named homecoming king at his new school.

The announcement of Stiles Zuschlag as king was made Friday evening at halftime of Noble High School’s homecoming football game.

He tells WCSH-TV said “my heart kind of dropped” when he heard the announcement.

Zuschlag transferred to Noble after he said he was asked to leave Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth, New Hampshire, because of his gender identity.

Zuschlag came out as a transgender male in 2015. He said that being honored as homecoming king “was the most surreal thing that’s ever happened” to him. He said he likes the way he’s been accepted at his new school.