The tragic death of a non-binary teenager, who died after being brutally beaten by their classmates at their Oklahoma school, has sparked outrage around the world.
LGBTQI+ advocates are calling on school officials and state legislators to be held to account, with many pointing to the state’s all-too abundant anti-LGBTQI+ legislation and rhetoric.
Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Oklahoma student who identified as non-binary and used they/them pronouns, got attacked by three girls in their high school bathroom.
In video footage, released by police on Friday, Nex told officers the three girls were picking on them and some friends because of the way they dressed. Sitting in a hospital bed, Nex says “so I went up there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me”.
“They came at me. They grabbed on my hair. I grabbed onto them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser and then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground,” Nex says in the video, adding that they started beating them until they blacked out.
While it’s reported that a teacher did intervene to stop the fights, school staff didn’t call an ambulance for Nex who had a bruised face and scratches on their head.
Sue Benedict, Nex’s grandmother and legal guardian, took them to the hospital the next day after Nex collapsed at home. They died that evening due to “complications from brain trauma”.
Sue told The Independent that Nex had been a victim of bullying since the beginning of the 2023 school year.
Oklahoma’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation
Before Nex’s death, Oklahoma, along with the rest of the US, has been seeing increasing levels of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric from conservative politicians.
In May 2023, the state’s governor Kevin Stitt, signed into law a bill that bans gender-affirming care for people under 18. Then, in August 2023, Stitt signed a bill prohibiting trans students from using public school bathrooms that match their gender identity.
Around this same time as well, the Oklahoma’s House was voting to censure their first and only non-binary representative, Mauree Turner.
Around the country, anti-trans bills continue to be introduced. In 2023, an unprecedented 37 bills were introduced at the federal level across categories like healthcare, student athletics, the military, incarceration and education. Already in 2024, the National Trans Legislation Tracker has recorded 43 national anti-trans bills being introduced.
The nation’s largest LGBTQI+ civil rights organisation, the Human Rights Campaign, has this week called on investigations to be launched on the brutal assault that Nex endured, noting that the Oklahoma state government has become increasingly hostile to the the LGBTQ+ community in recent years, listing Oklahoma among the top five worst states for anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination legislation.
Advocates have specifically called for the removal of the Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters for his role in creating a dangerous environment for LGBTQI+ people that “contributed to the death of Nex”.
‘We told them this would happen’
Vigils for Nex have been held at locations around the US, including Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Minnesota and California.
In Oklahoma City over the weekend, an overflow crowd gathered for a candlelight vigil to honour Nex’s memory and mourn their death.
Speaking to the crowd of LGBTQ+ supporters, Nicole Poindexter, an associate regional campaign director of the state’s Human Rights Campaign, recounted how she lobbied against the recent anti-LGBTQ+ bills at the state legislature.
“We told them this would happen,” Poindexter said. “We told them that if they continued this rhetoric of hate, this rhetoric of division, that it would result in body bags, and I am devastated to tell you we were right.”
LGBTQI+ support services:
QLife (A national service that aims to keep LGBTQI communities supported and connected): call 1800 184 527 (3pm–midnight AEST), Online chat (3pm–midnight AEST)
Lifeline: 13 11 14, 24/7, text, or chat online
Suicide Call Back Service — for anyone thinking about suicide: call 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue — for anyone feeling depressed or anxious: call 1300 22 4636, email or chat online, 24/7
ReachOut — mental health resources for young people
In an emergency, call 000