On February 8, a non-binary high schooler named Nex Benedict died following a brutal fight with two other students at their high school. It’s unknown whether the fight and their death were related, but given the proximity of the two events, I’d be surprised if they weren’t. 

This event is the result of a long chain of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills and laws passed in Oklahoma that have made Queer people’s lives in the state incredibly difficult and has likely led to an uptick in violence like this.

When I heard about the story, I was incredibly alarmed. According to The Washington Blade, queer people in Oklahoma have been discriminated against massively and systemically as of late with a series of hateful bills—something I was already at least somewhat aware of—but clearly, it’s come to a head when kids are being killed by other students their own ages over it. For myself and, I assume, other queer teenagers, this is terrifying; it speaks to a rising amount of hate and vitriol against us that’s truly unacceptable and that I’m scared thinking about. 

The words of people in power have an impact on the youth and this shows it. Without the hateful bills being passed in Oklahoma, I believe that maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe hatred wouldn’t be encouraged like it has been there. Maybe a person with a whole life ahead of them wouldn’t have had it ripped away so soon. 

It alarms me to think that hatred against queer people is being progressively normalized when not too long ago—as recently as five years ago, even—things seemed to be looking up for the LGBTQIA+ community. I firmly feel that our country and many others are moving backward and it’s terrifying to see. This is the death of a real person and should not be taken lightly 

I’ve been seeing a lot of denial about the cause of Nex’s assault online. I’ve seen claims that the assault was not due to their gender identity and claims that their death was not related to the assault. Two things I find incredibly difficult to believe, given they were assaulted in a gendered bathroom and died only a day after the fight. 

Seeing the circumstances of Benedict’s death and the reactions of some individuals to the news, I can’t help but think back to the murder of Brianna Ghey and the case that followed. On February 11, 2023, Ghey—a 16-year-old transgender girl—was stabbed to death in England due to her gender identity.

When this news broke, despite texts between the murderers explicitly saying that they were doing this because she was transgender among other evidence, I saw many people trying to deny that that was the true reasoning for the murder at the time. This was to the point that it took almost a year for the trial against the murderers to be completed and for them to be found guilty, with them only having been found guilty on December 20, 2023, and their sentence only having been decided on February 2, 2024. 

I bring Ghey’s case up to say that denialism of the true causes of hate crimes is a very pervasive issue. I saw this last year with Ghey’s murderers, and I’m seeing it again this year with those of Nex Benedict. Some people are trying to avoid the true causes of these murders to erase the experiences of queer people.

Anyone who supports the actions and words of those in power who have caused this should take a moment and ask themselves why they feel this way. 

Is it truly to “protect the children?” I don’t think so. Not if their attempts to “protect the children’” are leading to those same children dying. 

This should be a wake-up call for these people. Nex was a person with goals and dreams and now their life has been cut short. Who knows how many others this could happen to if we don’t do something about it?

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/02/us/nex-benedict-oklahoma-doe-investigation/index.html

https://www.washingtonblade.com/2022/03/24/anti-lgbtq-bills-passed-by-oklahoma-state-senate/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Brianna_Ghey#Defence_case