Dear John,
On February 7, after a year of being bullied, Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Choctaw Indigenous gender-fluid teen in Oklahoma, was brutally assaulted in a bathroom by their classmates and died the next day.1,2 Nex had bruises all over their face and eyes, scratches on the back of their head, and severe head injuries, but school officials didn't even call an ambulance or medical help.3 It's completely unacceptable. Nex should be alive today.
Sue Benedict, Nex's grandmother said, "I was so proud of Nex. They were going some place, they were so free. Nex had a light in them that was so big, they had so many dreams. I want their light to keep shining for everyone. That light was so big and bright and beautiful, and I want everyone to remember Nex that way."4
Nex will never get to draw, read, play video games, or play with his cat Zeus (all things he loved to do) ever again. Ms. Benedict will never get to hold her grandchild again.
Nex was taken from this world entirely too soon, and their death is reverberating in young LGBTQ+ communities across Oklahoma and across the country. A hotline run by Rainbow Youth Project USA received 237 calls from Oklahoma youth over the weekend, nearly three times what it logs in an average week.5 The LGBTQ+ community deserves more. LGBTQ+ youth deserve more.
Nex had been bullied for months after Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt made it mandatory by law for Oklahoma public school students to use only bathrooms that match their sex assigned at birth. Gov. Stitt and Superintendent Walters recently appointed Chaya Raichik—a right-wing activist known for targeting LGBTQ+ teachers—to the Library Media Advisory Committee of the state Department of Education, even after she targeted Nex's school district in 2022, coming after a teacher who voiced their support for their LGBTQ+ students, which resulted in the resignation of that educator.6
Elected officials hold so much power in their words, actions, and legislation—and they must be held responsible when they neglect their constituents and encourage and allow violence. Hateful, transphobic, and homophobic rhetoric and legislation have devastating consequences. Nex is gone, but we can't let that be the end.
Every year that conservatives throw temper tantrums about the advancement of civil rights, the quality of life for LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans and nonbinary people, deteriorates across the U.S. We must hold elected officials and Republicans accountable for their transphobic, homophobic, and violent rhetoric.
School officials completely and totally failed Nex, and now Nex is gone. Pure, unadulterated hatred has taken them from their family.
This is state-sanctioned violence in the form of legislation and moral conservative outrage that's meant to intimidate and eradicate the LGBTQ+ community. Gov. Stitt's bathroom bill put a target on trans and nonbinary children's backs, and the blame for Nex's death lies not just with the girls who brutally assaulted him, not just with the school officials for their inaction, but also with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, State Superintendent Ryan Walters, and Chaya Raichik, and they must be held accountable.
LGBTQ+ and gender diverse students deserve to learn without fear of bullying, harassment, or violence.
Thanks for all you do.
–MoveOn
Sources:
1. "The death of an Oklahoma teen after a fight in school has LGBTQ+ advocates seeking answers," CNN, February 21, 2024
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/21/us/oklahoma-teen-death-school-fight/index.html
2. "LGBTQ+ Leaders Call For DOJ To Investigate Nex's Death," Erin In The Morning, February 22, 2024
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/lgbtq-leaders-call-for-doj-to-investigate
3. "Nex Benedict: Non-binary student who died after Oklahoma bathroom assault was a 'shining light'," Independent, February 22, 2024
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nex-benedict-oklahoma-ossawa-non-binary-b2500209.html
4. Ibid.
5. "Crisis calls from the 2SLGBTQ+ youth community triple within 72 hours," KTUL, February 20, 2024
https://ktul.com/news/local/crisis-calls-oklahoma-from-the-2s-lgbtq-youth-community-triple-within-72-hours-days-after-owasso-student-dies-beaten-in-school-bathroom-hospital-bullying-triggers-hotline-mental-health-16-year-old-nonbinary
6. "Top GOP School Official Appoints Woman Behind 'Libs Of TikTok' To Key Position," Huffington Post, January 23, 2024
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oklahoma-schools-libs-of-tiktok_n_65afe8dfe4b0f55c6e31213d
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