Oklahomans buried one of our children this week. Nex Benedict, a non-binary 16-year-old student at Owasso High School, was rushed to the hospital after what has been called a medical episode.
The day before, reports surfaced that Nex had been in a physical altercation at school. According to the NBC affiliate in Tulsa, the mother of the victim’s best friend suggested, “Three older girls were beating the victim and her daughter in the girl’s bathroom.”
“I know at one point, one of the girls was pretty much repeatedly beating her head across the floor,” she continued. “[Benedict] couldn’t walk to the nurses’ station on [their] own, and staff didn’t call the ambulance, which amazes me.”
School officials claimed all students involved in the fight walked away on their own accord and were assessed by a school nurse. This was confirmed by a fellow student who witnessed the incident.
Owasso Public Schools say they are working with the Owasso Police Department as they investigate. Owasso Police Department spokesman, Lt. Nick Boatman, released this statement: “We do not want to make any rash conclusions about any part of the investigation or the cause of death.”
The altercation took place on February 7, with Nex dying the following day. Owasso Public School did not release a statement about the incident or Nex’s death until February 20. District officials made this statement regarding the delay: “Owasso Public Schools has cooperated with the Owasso Police Department surrounding the death of a high school student on February 8, 2024. The district has limited its statement on the matter to this point due to the ongoing investigation in an effort to not disrupt police and out of respect for the confidentiality for all involved.”
On the afternoon of Wednesday, February 21, the Owasso Police Department released their preliminary findings after an autopsy was conducted, “While the investigation continues into the altercation, preliminary information from the medical examiner’s office is that a complete autopsy was performed and indicated that the decedent did not die as a result of trauma. At this time, any further comments on the cause of death are currently pending until toxicology results and other ancillary testing results are received. The official autopsy report will be available at a later date.”
While the investigation of Nex’s death is ongoing, I have some serious concerns about the Sooner State’s leadership when it comes to protecting LGBTQIA+ citizens and their rights.
Oklahoma has become one of the least friendly states to LGBTQIA+ individuals and their families. A Republican supermajority controls the Oklahoma legislature, with most of the elected seats now being held by far-right Republicans.
Late last year, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed an order effectively banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at public colleges and universities. Stitt’s office released this statement: “In Oklahoma, we’re going to encourage equal opportunity, rather than promising equal outcomes. Encouraging our workforce, economy, and education systems to flourish means shifting focus away from exclusivity and discrimination and toward opportunity and merit.”
Stitt and other Republican leaders contend they are being discriminated against and excluded based on their race and religion. A vast majority are white and conservative evangelical Christians. They fail to mention they hold a super-majority in the state legislature and control most elements of state and local governments.
Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters has used anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric in the past, attempting to purge public schools of “pornographic” materials. Oklahoma has been one of the top states attempting to pull books from school libraries that promote dialogue about sexuality and racism.
As young and impressionable students continue to hear the hateful rhetoric coming from leaders like Stitt and Walters, they are becoming more emboldened to act out against the people their leaders condemn. Bullying of LGBTQIA+ students is escalating.
The Independent filed this report after talking to Nex’s mother, Sue: “The bullying had started in earnest at the beginning of the 2023 school year, a few months after Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill that required public school students to use bathrooms that matched the sex listed on their birth certificates.”
When will thoughtful and responsible citizens hold elected officials accountable for their inflammatory and hateful rhetoric? When will people of faith finally have enough of this hateful speech that leads to death?
Stitt, Walters and others like them claim to be Christians. However, their words could never convince me of that claim. Their words do not sound like Jesus’s words regarding loving our neighbors in the Gospels.
Jesus did say, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). What kind of fruit are Stitt, Walters and others like them producing? All I hear is white supremacy, hatred and, now, death.
Jesus saved his harshest words for those practicing exclusion and controlling behaviors: “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (12:34-37).
The day of judgment is today! Elected leaders who continue to use such hateful and dehumanizing language need to be removed from their offices.
They need to be replaced with people who govern with compassion and reason. They do not have to hold the same beliefs that I do, but they must understand their responsibility as a public servant means they serve all members of the public.
The death of Nex Benedict has many people talking around Oklahoma, mainly because so little is being said by law enforcement, school administrators and elected officials. Nex’s death is yet another tragedy that could have been avoided.
Understanding and compassion could have replaced hate and rejection.
During this season of Lent, let’s honor Nex and aim to find a better way forward that offers inclusion, freedom and justice for all people.
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