A student who broke down in tears coming out to President Barack Obama as non-binary on live television says they can now "change the world".

Maria Munir, 20, from Watford, could feel the tears well up in their eyes as they stood up and spoke to Mr Obama in a question-and-answer session in a packed town hall in Westminster.

Non-binary people do not see themselves as exclusively masculine or feminine, and Munir revealed they had not even told their parents yet.

Talking about it just moments after, Munir, still emotional, said: "I cannot describe the amount of nerves and excitement I felt at exactly the same time. I started to feel the tears well up."

Munir added: "For me, aged 20, to be sat in front of the President of the United States, the leader of the Free World, and to be able to pitch to him social action that I believe he can have a real influence on is something I will never be able to describe."

Munir, a student at the University of York, said: "Being here, I just know that I can change the world now and this has given me that confidence."

Addressing Mr Obama, Munir said: "I'm about to do something terrifying because I'm coming out to you as a non-binary person which means that I don't fit within ... I'm getting emotional, I'm so sorry."

At this point, the crowd cheered and the President said: "It's okay."

Munir is from a Pakistani Muslim background which they said "inevitably has cultural implications".

Munir, who is running in the local election in Watford, said non-binary people in the UK are not recognised and have no rights.

"I really, really wish that yourself and David Cameron would take us seriously as transgender people," Munir told Mr Obama.

The President said he was "incredibly proud" of the steps Munir has taken to speak out.

"It sounds to me like you're on the the right track. I can't speak for David Cameron although I will say that on LGBT issues I think David's been ahead of the curve," he said.

Mr Obama said from his own perspective "a lot of serious steps" are being taken to address these issues.

Afterwards, Munir said: "I've been sitting on this issue for such a long time. I haven't come out to my parents, so I'm sorry mum and dad, and I just thought if anyone in the world is going to be able to accept me for who I am it should be the President of the United States."

Talking about how their parents did not know, Munir said: "I feel really bad because I'm so close to them, but unfortunately we live in a society where people who want to make the worst out of you always will.

"Unfortunately people in my community would never have responded well to this news. I felt that if I told my parents it would almost be a burden on them because they would feel as though they have to keep me a secret."

Reflecting on the dramatic moment, Munir said: "I took a huge risk to be honest doing this, because I know I'm going to go home and I know that people are going to isolate me."

The student said it feels like a waking dream and said people "have to keep fighting to go beyond social norms", but admitted they were disappointed at the President's answer.

Asked if they were happy with his response, Munir said: "Truth be told, I wasn't. The reason is because I've been imagining this situation for quite some time so it's never going to live up to that.

"But his answer, I felt, was not of the calibre I would expect of an outgoing President."

Munir added: "In order to really be the face of change, he really needs to start doing something about transgender rights, because the T in LGBT has been ignored for a very long time."