The death of a 16-year-old non-binary student after an altercation in the girls’ bathroom at a high school in Oklahoma has drawn national attention and outrage from gay and transgender rights groups who say the student had been bullied because to their gender identity.
Nex Benedict, who often used the pronouns they and them and told family members that they did not see themselves strictly as men or women, died in early February, a day after the altercation with three girls at Owasso High School. . Details about what happened and what exactly caused Nex’s death were unclear, but in a video of a police interview released on February 24, Nex said they had “passed out” while being beaten on the bathroom floor.
Police said the case was still under investigation.
Nex’s death and the circumstances surrounding it have put school officials and authorities under scrutiny. There has been an outpouring of grief across the country, particularly from the LGBTQ community, and a renewed focus on the proliferation of policies that restrict the rights of gay and transgender people.
Here’s what we know so far:
What happened before Nex’s death?
The altercation took place on February 7. The Owasso Police Department said in a statement on Feb. 20 that no police report had been made about the fight until Nex was taken to a hospital by family members later that day.
At that point, a school resource officer went to the hospital, police said. Nex was discharged and went home, but doctors rushed him to the hospital the next day and he died there, police said.
On February 24, police released a video of Nex’s interview at the hospital on the day of the altercation, which provided the most complete account yet of what happened.
Nex said in the interview that three girls had beaten them after Nex poured water on them for laughing at them and her friend. Nex said that the girls had previously made fun of Nex and his friends “because of the way we dressed.”
“We laughed,” Nex said. “And they had said something like, ‘Why are you laughing like that?’ “They were talking about us in front of us.”
“Then the three of them came towards me,” Nex added. At one point, Nex hit his head on the bathroom floor, according to Sue Benedict, his grandmother and guardian.
Nex went to the hospital and came home that day. The next day, Nex collapsed at his home and was rushed to hospital, where they were pronounced dead, Ms. Benedict said.
Officials also released surveillance video from the school on the day of the altercation, showing students, including Nex, entering the bathroom and, separately, Nex walking through the hallways with a staff member after the confrontation.
Several details are still unknown, including the exact cause of Nex’s death.
Among the key questions that remain unanswered is how exactly Nex died.
On Feb. 21, police said preliminary autopsy results found that Nex “did not die as a result of trauma.” The state medical examiner’s office has not yet released its report on the autopsy and toxicology results.
It is also unclear whether Nex was struck because of his gender identity. Advocates for nonbinary and transgender students have said Oklahoma’s gender policies had led to more reports of confrontations at schools.
And questions remain about why school officials did not contact police or other officials after the altercation.
In a Feb. 20 statement, the Owasso school district suggested there had been “speculation and misinformation” about the circumstances surrounding the altercation, which it said lasted less than two minutes before being broken up by other students, “along with a staff member”. .” The school said all students involved “walked under their own power to the assistant principal’s office and the nurse’s office.”
Oklahoma has several laws that restrict the rights of transgender people.
The incident has renewed scrutiny over anti-transgender legislation in Oklahoma.
The state has several laws that restrict the rights of transgender people, including one that prohibits students from using bathrooms that do not correspond to their sex at birth. Another law explicitly prohibits gender-neutral markers on birth certificates. Oklahoma also prohibits minors from receiving gender transition care.
This year, the state Legislature is considering a bill to prohibit residents from changing their sex designation on birth certificates, and another to require public schools to recognize that gender is an “immutable biological trait” and ban people use names or pronouns that differ from their birth certificates.
The laws are part of a national push by conservatives to restrict the rights of gays and transgender people. Statehouses across the country have been consumed by fights over the laws that govern them, and at least 23 states have passed bans on gender transition care for minors.
The state superintendent defended his stance on gender, while LGBTQ advocates blamed him for creating a “hostile environment.”
Oklahoma Public Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters has been steadfast in his anti-transgender rhetoric since taking office in 2022. Walters remained firm in his stance after the incident, and in his first interview since Nex’s death, he told The Times. that he does not believe that non-binary or transgender people exist.
“People are always treated with dignity and respect, because they are made in the image of God,” Mr. Walters said. “But that doesn’t change the truth.”
Meanwhile, LGBTQ rights advocates reacted with anger and fear to Nex’s death, saying such restrictive gender policies were harmful.
“Ryan Walters has created a devastatingly hostile environment for trans, two-spirit and gender nonconforming students,” said Nicole McAfee, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, which advocates for transgender and gay rights.
Transgender students said their classmates have seen the rhetoric of officials like Mr. Walters as permission to harass and intimidate them.
“There are a lot of feelings of helplessness,” said Hali, a transgender girl in high school, who asked that her last name not be used for fear she could be targeted by anti-transgender activists. “You always have that little fear that they could attack you, that you could be one of the victims.”
J. David Goodman and Edgar Sandoval contributed with reports.