Nex Benedict (he/they), a 16-year-old student at a public high school in Owasso, Oklahoma, died on February 8, 2024 after being beaten in the school restroom on February 7. School officials dispute reports that the adult who broke up the fight failed to engage the school nurse, send Nex to the hospital, or inform police. Police reported that Nex’s grandmother took them to the hospital that night and reported the fight to police. Nex was released from the hospital and rushed back the following day, when they were pronounced dead.
Nex was born in El Paso, Texas, was out to friends and at school as 2STGNC+ (two spirit, transgender and gender nonconforming+) and is of Choctaw Nation ancestry.
Despite Nex’s death on February 8, most local media outlets did not report on Nex’s death until a report on Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents highlighted it on February 16 followed by national media. Local and state media that did cover the story misgendered or deadnamed Nex, using inaccurate pronouns and their discarded birth name without permission. (For more on terminology, nonbinary people, misgendering, and deadnaming, please see GLAAD’s Media Reference Guide.)
As pointed out by The Independent, this school year started a few months after a bill requiring public school students to use bathrooms that matched the sex on their birth certificates went into effect.
There is currently a verified GoFundMe in place to cover funeral expenses. (TW: The GoFundMe uses Nex’s deadname, but has since been updated with an apology from Nex’s mother).
See below for live updates from GLAAD and community leaders in Oklahoma as more information and resources become available:
Wednesday, February 28th, 2024
- More than 350 national, state, and local organizations advocating for equality across the U.S., alongside notable public figures, issue an open letter to Oklahoma legislative leadership urging justice for Nex Benedict.
The letter calls for the immediate removal of Oklahoma state superintendent of public instruction, Ryan Walters, who has a long history of anti-2SLGBTQI+ (two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex+) rhetoric and policies; and an investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Education to determine what actions and policies have led to a culture where rampant harassment of 2SLGBTQI+ students has been allowed to go unchecked. The letter reads in part:
Monday, February 26th, 2024
- 4:30PM CT/5:30PM ET: National landmark Stonewall Inn hosts a vigil in remembrance of Nex and to demand safety of LGBTQ people nationwide.
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- 10AM CT/11AM ET: Owasso, OK students walk out of school to demand urgent action against bullying and LGBTQ discrimination the preceded the death of Nex
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Sunday, February 25th, 2024
- 6:30pm CT/7:30pm ET: Community vigils held in Tulsa and Owasso took place to honor and remember the life of Nex Benedict.
In downtown Tulsa, the Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma held a candlelight vigil at Guthrie Green and brought together the region’s leading 2SLGBTQ+, indigenous, and civil rights groups and leaders. GLAAD joined the local leaders in a call to action for the community and to build a better future for youth like Nex and students like them.
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In the City of Owasso, the local community gathered together in a candlelight vigil organized by parents of Owasso High School students along with family and friends of Nex Benedict.
- 4PM CT/5PM ET: GLAAD President & CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, appeared on MSNBC with anchor Alex Witt to speak on the death of Nex Benedict and what lies ahead for the community of Owasso and the larger 2S & LGBTQ communities in Greater Tulsa and beyond:
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Saturday, February 24th, 2024
- 9 AM CT/10 AM ET: GLAAD publishes response to the release of 9-1-1 calls, school surveillance video and police body cam footage by Owasso police this evening. GLAAD’s full response can be found HERE with highlights below:
Newly released police body cam footage from inside the emergency room raises concerns about questionable police involvement:
- The police officer discouraged Sue Benedict from asking him to file a police report and saying it would open up Nex to legal liability and that it would be a shame for any of the students to have to deal with a criminal situation for quote “something so minuscule.”
- The police officer told Nex that they were “just as guilty as” their attackers. This followed Nex explaining that after repeated harassment and bullying from 3 students, they threw water on the students. Those 3 students then began to violently beat Nex, slamming their head on the floor until they lost consciousness.
- The police officer described the verbal bullying of Nex by classmates as “free speech.”
- The police officer suggested multiple excuses for why the school did not follow protocol and alert law enforcement about the assault.
Newly released school surveillance footage show Owasso High School officials did not follow protocol:
- The police officer confirmed that protocol dictates that Nex’s high school should have notified police about the assault and that the school “dropped the ball.”
- The police officer then suggested multiple excuses for why the school broke protocol.
New 911 audio shows Nex’s mother had to report the assault after the school did not, and details Nex’s final moments:
- Nex’s mother Sue Benedict called 9-1-1 twice. First on the day of the attack, from the emergency room, with Nex by her side in a hospital bed, to report an assault had taken place at school.
- Sue Benedict made the second 9-1-1 call the following day when Nex collapsed at home. Sue reported Nex’s “eyes rolled back into their head,” their “hands curled” and Nex was “struggling to breathe.”
Newly released videos detail horrors of attack and reveal ongoing history of bullying and targeted harassment experienced by Nex:
- Nex’s mother Sue Benedict explains Nex was pinned to the ground and beaten until they blacked out.
- School footage shows Nex unsteady on their feet after the brutal 3-on-1 beating. Note that the school did not call an ambulance or the police.
- Nex and their mother discuss the ongoing bullying and harassment Nex faced at school, naming specifically that Nex was targeted for the way they dressed.
- Nex explains that they were unable to see the point in bringing recent bullying to the school’s attention given how much they had been bullied and harassed at school in the past year.
Additionally, Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict, raised questions about the investigation and Popular Information tracked significant similarities in the Owasso Police Department and Owasso High School’s statements:
- Sue Benedict, Nex’s mother, said she considered the Owasso Police statement a “big cover” and believed it was only released as “something to calm the people.”
- Popular Information’s analysis: “There are several aspects of the Owasso Police statement that raise serious questions. The statement paints the school’s response, which is part of the investigation, in a favorable light. But large sections of the Owasso Police’s February 21 statement were copied verbatim from a statement released by Owasso Public Schools on February 20.”
Popular Information published new reporting last night showing significant concerns with the Owasso Police Department’s handling of the case:
- Owasso’s medical examiner did not explicitly tell the police Nex “did not die from something as a result of that fight,” but a Police spokesperson interpreted the medical examiner’s comments to mean that. The medical examiner’s report remains unfinished.
- Sue Benedict, Nex’s mother, told Popular Information she considered the Owasso Police statement a “big cover” and believed it was only released as “something to calm the people.”
- The piece calls out the Police Department’s statement as “paint(ing) the schools response, which is part of the investigation, in a favorable light. But large sections of the Owasso Police’s February 21 statement were copied verbatim from a statement released by Owasso Public Schools on February 20.”
- In an interview with Popular Information, the Police Department’s spokesperson acknowledged that the statement “kind of came across as us being a voice piece for the school.”
- The police spokesperson also acknowledged that it is not a normal practice of the Owasso Police to release “piecemeal” information regarding the cause of death before the medical examiner issues a report, yet the police did just that, to, in their words “head off some of this national scrutiny.”
Friday, February 23rd, 2024
- 2:02PM ET: In response to the death of Nex Benedict, a non-binary/two-spirit student in Owasso, Oklahoma, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has compiled mental health, youth crisis and provider resources to prevent school-based bullying and violence.
- 2PM ET: Trans Advocacy of Oklahoma releases info on in-person vigil for Nex at Guthrie Green
“This Sunday, February 25, Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma will host a candlelight vigil in loving memory of Nex Benedict, a Choctaw, nonbinary teenager who was attacked in a school restroom and died the following day. This event was planned with input and support by Freedom Oklahoma, Oklahomans for Equality, and many other community members and groups.Media, members of the community, and all 2SLGBTQIA+ people, allies, and loving neighbors are invited to attend and pay their respects. The vigil will feature speakers from the region’s leading 2SLGBTQ+, indigenous, and civil rights groups and leaders, and include calls to action for the community to build a better future for youth like Nex.
WHAT: Candlelight vigil to honor and celebrate Nex Benedict’s life and mourn their death; to make space for grief, community, and action; and to demand that those responsible, and the systems that empower them, be held accountable
WHERE: Guthrie Green, 111 Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK, 74103
WHEN: Sunday, February 25, starting at 6:30pm CST
To RSVP to Sunday’s vigil or make arrangements for an interview, reporters can email press@glaad.org / transadvocacyok@gmail.com Reporters may request in-person interviews at the Guthrie Green vigil starting at 4pm by emailing press@glaad.org.”
- 2:00PM ET: GLAAD releases LGBTQ records of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and his former Education Secretary, current Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters.
Thursday, February 22nd, 2024
- 7:02PM CT: Vice President Kamala Harris shares a message of support to Nex and LGBTQ youth:
My heart goes out to Nex Benedict’s family, friends, and their entire community.
To the LGBTQI+ youth who are hurting and are afraid right now: President Joe Biden and I see you, we stand with you, and you are not alone.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) February 23, 2024
- 6:00PM ET: GLAAD releases additional guidance for reporters to cover Nex’s death accurately
- 4:27PM ET: Black Queer Tulsa releases statement in support of Nex:
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- 3:00PM ET: A list of in-person vigils to support Nex’s memory was released:
Friday:
2/23 in McAlester at 6 PM at All Saints Episcopal Church organized by McAlester community members
2/23 in Stillwater at 6 PM at St. Andrew’s Church organized by Stillwater community members
Saturday:
2/24 in Norman at 5:30 PM at Andrews Park hosted by Norman Community Members
2/24 in OKC at 6:30 PM at @pointagallery in OKC organized by Rural Oklahoma Pride
2/24 in Tahlequah at 7 PM at Norris Park by Tahlequality
Sunday:
2/25 in Bartlesville at 6:30 PM at Disciples Christian Church by Oklahomans for Equality Bartlesville
2/25 at 6:30 at Guthrie Green by Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma (TACO)
2/25 at 7 PM at 816 W Gore Blvd Lawton, OK by UU Lawton OK Pride
Wednesday, February 21st, 2024
- 5:20 PM CT: Statement from the attorney representing Nex Benedict’s family is released, per local Oklahoma reporter Cal Day of KOTV-News on 6:
FAMILY OF NEX BENEDICT RELEASES STATEMENT…The attorney representing the family of Nex Benedict has released the…
Posted by Cal Day on Wednesday, February 21, 2024
- 4:30 PM CT: Statement from GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis goes live:
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- 12PM CT: GLAAD compiles and releases statements from local LGBTQ orgs, community leaders and Nex’s family:
Freedom Oklahoma, the state’s largest advocacy group advocating LGBTQ Oklahomans, stated in part:
“Nex should still be alive. Nex deserved not only a safe and nurturing environment to learn, but an environment that actively disrupted anti-2STGNC+ (two spirit, transgender, gender-nonconforming+) rhetoric and worked to ensure that vulnerable students were safe. Owasso schools failed to create that environment for Nex. And we know that is the story for too many kids across our state. We want to be clear, whether Nex died as a direct result of injuries sustained in the brutal hate-motivated attack at school or not, Nex’s death is a result of being the target of physical and emotional harm because of who Nex was. This harm is absolutely related to the rhetoric and policies that are commonplace at the Oklahoma Legislature, the State Department of Education, and the Governor’s office, with regard to dehumanizing 2STGNC+ people.”
Statement from Nex Benedict’s family, Sue Benedict, the mother of Nex Benedict:
“We at this time are thankful for the ongoing support and did not expect the love from everyone. We are sorry for not using their name correctly and as parents we were still learning the correct forms. Please do not judge us as Nex was judged, please do not bully us for our ignorance on the subject. Nex gave us that respect and we are sorry in our grief that we overlooked them. I lost my child, the headstone will have correct name of their choice. The rest of monies will go to other children dealing with the right to be who they feel they are, in Nex Benedict’s name. God bless.”
- 69% of incoming contacts reported and/or mentioned the Owasso, OK incident as one of the reasons for their distress
- 85% reported being bullied at school and/or across social media platforms
- 79% reported fear of physical assault
- Eight crisis contacts reported self-harming behaviors and were referred for immediate mental health services – two were unable to obtain parental consent for services
- 32 crisis contacts identified as students at Owasso High School
- 14 crisis contacts identified as parents of students who attend Owasso High School
If you are in a life-threatening situation, please dial 911.
If you are in crisis, please dial 988 or contact Rainbow Youth Project directly at +1 (317) 643-4888.