Nex Benedict Deserved to Live
Non-binary Oklahoma teen dies after being assaulted at school because of their gender identity
Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old non-binary high school student in Oklahoma, was brutally beaten in the bathroom by other students because of their gender identity. Her grandmother, Sue Benedict, later rushed Nex to the hospital for an MRI after seeing their facial bruises and filed a police report.
The next morning on Feb. 8, Nex collapsed at home and was later pronounced dead, per The Washington Post
Sue Benedict, Nex’s mother, told The Independent that Nex, who used they/them pronouns, faced bullying at Owasso High School for more than a year and believes their death was a result of the physical trauma from the assault. When Sue picked up Nex from school that day, Nex described how three girls had assaulted them and a transgender student in the bathroom, knocking Nex down and hitting their head on the floor. Benedict was angry that no school official had called an ambulance or the police.
“Whether Nex died as a direct result of injuries sustained in the brutal hate-motivated attack at school or not, Nex’s death is a result of being the target of physical and emotional harm because of who Nex was,” the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Freedom Oklahoma said in a statement last Monday.
Although Oklahoma police say their death was not a result of the physical trauma from the assault, Nex’s death has sparked fear among LGBTQ+ youth who reportedly have experienced similar forms of bullying in person or on social media, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Nex’s death comes amidst an increase in anti-trans bills and rhetoric, especially in Oklahoma. In January, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an executive order defining an individual’s sex as the “biological sex at birth,” sparking laws that required students to use the bathroom of their assigned sex at birth and restricting gender-affirming care. In addition, unlike federal law, Oklahoma law does not address hate crimes based on identity and sexual orientation.
“Nex was a 4.0 student. They liked cats. They were Cherokee. They deserved to live,” tweeted Oklahoma County Democrats via X.
You can donate to Nex’s family by tapping the link here