Oklahoma Banned Trans Students From Bathrooms. Now a Bullied Student is Dead After a Fight

This blog originally appeared at INDEPENDENT.

Nex Benedict passed away just one day following an altercation in a school restroom. According to their mother, Sue Benedict, the gender-fluid teenager endured over a year of torment solely for embracing their authentic identity.

Whenever Nex Benedict, a teenager from Oklahoma, faced bullying at school due to being transgender, their mother, Sue Benedict, would encourage the 16-year-old to rise above their tormentors.

“I would tell them, ‘You must stay strong and ignore them because they don’t truly know who you are,'” Ms. Benedict shared with The Independent during a phone interview.

Unaware of the severity of the situation, Ms. Benedict continued, “I didn’t realize how bad it had become.”

The bullying intensified at the start of the 2023 school year, shortly after Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill mandating that public school students use bathrooms corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificates.

On February 7th, the situation allegedly escalated to violence when Nex suffered severe head injuries during a “physical altercation” at Owasso High School, as reported by the Owasso Police Department.

Recalling the distressing day, Sue Benedict recounted rushing to the school to find Nex badly beaten, with bruises evident on their face and eyes, along with scratches on the back of their head.

Nex disclosed to her that they and another transgender student at Owasso High School had been involved in a confrontation with three older girls in a girls’ bathroom. Nex was knocked to the ground during the altercation, hitting their head on the floor, according to their mother.

Ms. Benedict expressed her fury over the school’s failure to call for an ambulance or involve the police. She recounted that the school later informed her that Nex was suspended for two weeks.

Taking Nex to the Bailey Medical Center in Owasso for treatment, they conversed with a police school resource officer at the medical facility before being discharged.

That night, Nex went to bed with a sore head and eventually drifted off to sleep while listening to music, according to Ms. Benedict.

On the afternoon of February 8th, while preparing to accompany Ms. Benedict to an appointment in Tulsa, Nex collapsed in the family living room.

Ms. Benedict promptly called for an ambulance, and medics from the Owasso Fire Department arrived to find Nex unresponsive. They rushed Nex to the St. Francis Pediatric Emergency Room, where they were later pronounced dead.

The Owasso Police Department released a statement indicating that they were actively investigating the circumstances leading up to Nex’s death.

Owasso PD spokesperson Nick Boatman informed The Independent that the police were awaiting toxicology and autopsy reports from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office before considering charges.

Mr. Boatman emphasized that all potential charges would be considered pending confirmation of the cause of death.

In an update on February 20th, Mr. Boatman stated that detectives were conducting interviews with school staff and students and would submit their findings to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office for review.

On February 21st, Owasso police issued a subsequent statement revealing that an autopsy indicated Nex did not die as a result of trauma.

When contacted by The Independent, a spokesperson for Owasso Public Schools declined to provide information regarding the assault or the school’s response, citing an ongoing police investigation.

Advocacy organizations supporting LGBTQ rights have characterized Nex’s death as a “hate crime,” attributing it to the “hateful rhetoric propagated by leaders in our state” and the activities of Chaya Raichik, a far-right social media influencer known for her Libs of TikTok account.

Ms. Raichik, a former real estate agent based in New York, gained prominence among conservatives for using her Libs of TikTok platform to share edited, anti-trans content targeting public school educators and librarians.

In 2022, an educator at Owasso High School whom Nex deeply admired resigned following their appearance in one of Ms. Raichik’s posts.

Ms. Raichik did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment. However, on another occasion, she refuted any connection to the death, asserting that she was unfairly being implicated in a homicide.

‘When you’re old school, you don’t always understand it’

Similar to many parents, Sue Benedict and her husband Walter faced challenges in comprehending the complexities of Nex’s gender fluidity.

Ms. Benedict, who is Nex’s biological grandmother, has cared for them since they were two months old, alongside her five other children. She formally adopted Nex several years ago.

Speaking to The Independent, Ms. Benedict expressed that Nex always showed understanding if she mistakenly used the wrong pronoun or referred to Nex by their birth name.

“Nex didn’t identify as strictly male or female,” Ms. Benedict explained. “They saw themselves as somewhere in between. I was still learning about it, and Nex was teaching me.”

Reflecting on their journey, Walter remarked to The Independent, “When you come from a more traditional background, it’s not always easy to grasp. But diversity is what makes life interesting. What truly matters is who we are on the inside.”

The family, who trace part of their roots to the Choctaw Nation, encouraged open discussions about questions of gender and identity.

“I was very open with my children to be who and what they thought was best,” Ms Benedict said.

“They could talk to me about anything, as long as that respect goes both ways. A child needs to figure out who they are and what they want to be, and you cannot force it upon them.”

Nex’s sister Malia Pila, who is also a member of the LGBTQ community, told The Independent in an interview that Nex’s fluid gender identity “was not an issue nor anything that anybody cared about” within the family.

Nex was a straight-A student who enjoyed drawing, reading, playing video games Ark and Minecraft, and was devoted to their cat Zeus, Ms Benedict said.

“I was so proud of Nex. They were going some place, they were so free,” she said.

In April 2022, Owasso High School teacher Tyler Wrynn was featured in a surreptitiously filmed Libs of TikTok post telling students: “If your parents don’t accept you for who you are, f*** them.”

The incident triggered a backlash in the small Oklahoma city of 40,000 residents, prompting Mr. Wrynn to resign from the Owasso Public Schools system.

“Nex was deeply upset about it,” remarked Ms. Benedict. She emphasized that teachers fostering discussions on gender issues weren’t promoting sexualized content but rather allowing students to express themselves authentically.

Ms. Benedict disclosed that she became aware of Nex’s bullying at school in early 2023.

“They’d retreat to their room and turn on the radio,” she recalled. “I’d tell them, ‘Alright, take some time to decompress, then we’ll talk about it.'”

Expressing her ongoing frustration with the school’s failure to contact the authorities or seek medical aid for Nex, Ms. Benedict urged for the alleged assailants to face consequences.

“So many people pressure kids to conform to certain standards,” Ms. Benedict voiced. “But you have to let them discover themselves and embrace who they truly are. Society needs to see them for who they are, accept them, and move forward, because ultimately, we’re all human beings.”

‘Woke ideology’

In August of last year, a post from Libs of TikTok featuring an edited video criticizing a public school librarian in Tulsa triggered a series of bomb threats targeting schools in the district for several consecutive days.

According to a recent investigation by NBC News, Ms. Raichik’s anti-LGBTQ posts have been associated with nearly thirty incidents of threats made against schools, libraries, hospitals, and businesses across sixteen states.

In the previous month, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s Republican superintendent of public schools, appointed Ms. Raichik to the state’s library advisory committee. Mr. Walters has not made any public statements regarding Nex’s death. However, on Presidents’ Day, he released a video criticizing “radical woke college professors” for ranking Donald Trump poorly among the nation’s greatest presidents, stating, “We judge presidents by outcomes, not woke ideology.”

Following Nex’s death, Freedom Oklahoma, an LGBTQ advocacy group, held Oklahoman lawmakers and Ms. Raichik responsible for promoting bigotry and intolerance towards transgender students. The group condemned Ms. Raichik’s actions, asserting that she continues to use her platform in a manner that encourages others to threaten harm against Oklahoma youth.

The group emphasized, “Whether Nex’s passing directly resulted from injuries sustained in a hate-motivated attack at school or not, it is a consequence of enduring physical and emotional harm due to their identity.”

‘Nex had a light in them that was so big’

Since Nex’s passing, Ms. Benedict revealed that she has struggled to sleep and has felt like she’s been “walking in a blur.”

When it came time to write an obituary, Ms. Benedict accidentally included Nex’s birth name. Consequently, some media reports regarding Nex’s death have used their birth name, or dead name.

“When you’re going through something like this and you lose a child, your mind isn’t functioning properly. We’re in the process of having a headstone made, and Nex’s chosen name will be engraved on it,” she explained.

Nex’s funeral took place at the Mowery Funeral Service on February 15th. Following the service, police officers from Owasso and the neighboring city of Collinsville joined members of the local chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse in escorting the procession from the service to the gravesite.

A GoFundMe campaign established to assist with funeral expenses has raised $28,000. Ms. Benedict intends to donate the majority of the funds to LGBTQ anti-bullying organizations.

“Nex possessed a radiance that was incredibly immense; they had numerous aspirations. I want their radiance to continue illuminating the lives of others. It was such a significant, bright, and beautiful light, and I want everyone to remember Nex in that manner,” Ms. Benedict expressed.