A transgender scholar died earlier this month after they had been allegedly assaulted by their friends in a toilet at their Oklahoma faculty.
The Owasso Police Division mentioned that 16-year-old Nex Benedict was handled at a hospital on Feb. 7 after a “bodily altercation” at Owasso Excessive Faculty. The police mentioned that they had not acquired a report concerning the incident previous to being notified by the hospital about it.
Benedict was allegedly crushed by three women within the women’ lavatory and suffered extreme head accidents after being knocked to the bottom, in response to the Impartial. Their mom, Sue Benedict, informed the information web site that Nex was coated in bruises on their face and eyes and had scratches on the again of their head.
After being handled and discharged from the hospital, the teenager returned residence and went to sleep with a sore head, their mom mentioned. The subsequent day, Nex Benedict was rushed to the hospital after collapsing of their lounge, the place they had been pronounced useless that night.
Sue Benedict informed the Impartial that Nex had been bullied since early final 12 months, not lengthy after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed a legislation requiring college students to make use of bogs that align with the intercourse listed on their delivery certificates.
“As we proceed to mourn the lack of this scholar, our hearts exit to their household and they’re going to proceed to be in our prayers. We’re right here to help them and everybody who has been affected by this example,” Owasso Public Faculties wrote in a press release on Tuesday.
In an replace on Tuesday, the police division mentioned {that a} “thorough investigation is being performed by Owasso Police Detectives who’re at present awaiting an post-mortem report and toxicology outcomes.”
No fees have been filed in opposition to anybody concerned within the incident, as Nex Benedict’s reason for loss of life has but to be decided by the state medical expert’s workplace.
Based on the Impartial, a instructor who Nex Benedict admired was featured on Libs of TikTok, a far-right X (previously Twitter) account recognized for posting anti-transgender content material. Posts from the account have led to threats in opposition to colleges, libraries and different public institutions throughout the nation. The instructor, already dealing with a backlash over their TikTok movies, resigned on the identical day the Libs of TikTok account tweeted about them, in response to native media.
Chaya Raichik operates the Libs of TikTok account. On Tuesday, she rejected hypothesis concerning the connection to Nex Benedict, arguing Libs of TikTok solely posted concerning the instructor after he resigned.
LGBTQ organizations, resembling Freedom Oklahoma, say that Raichik, who at present serves on the state’s library advisory committee, makes use of her platform in a approach that “leads others to threaten actual hurt to Oklahoma children.” In a press release, the Oklahoma group described the incident previous to Nex’s loss of life as a “doable hate-motivated assault.”
The U.S. has seen an onslaught of laws focusing on transgender individuals within the U.S., starting from bans on gender affirming care to restrictions on lavatory use, such because the legislation in Oklahoma.
Based on the American Civil Liberties Union, a complete of 437 anti-LGBTQ payments have been launched or handed within the U.S. up to now in 2024, following extra 500 launched in 2023. It’s a sample that has prompted the Human Rights Marketing campaign to declare a state of emergency for LGBTQ individuals.
The group has additionally raised alarm in recent times about anti-trans violence. A Human Rights Marketing campaign report revealed in November discovered that a minimum of 33 transgender and gender-nonconforming People had been killed prior to now 12 months.