OWASSO, OKLAHOMA, STUDENTS WALK OUT OF SCHOOL TO DEMAND URGENT ACTION AGAINST BULLYING AND LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION THAT PRECEDED THE DEATH OF 16-YEAR-OLD NEXT BENEDICT

OUTPOURING OF GRIEF AND CRIES FOR SUPPORT AT WEEKEND VIGILS COAST TO COAST; ADDITIONAL VIGILS TONIGHT AT THE LGBTQ LANDMARK STONEWALL INN AND NATIONWIDE

GLAAD:  “Students and families are out in force today having to demand the basics: to be safe from bullying and violence. It is appalling and shameful that Nex Benedict endured a year of anti-LGBTQ harassment, then a brutal beating in the school bathroom. Some of Nex’s last words described how they did not think anyone in school would do anything to help them. Policies that discriminate against students for who they are, that ban students from bathrooms, school activities, even their own pronouns, create unsafe environments. Every school district in America, every state legislature, every parent and family, must take steps today to end this horrific era of targeting children. LGBTQ youth need our protection. They need to hear what you are doing to keep them safe.”

(Owasso, Oklahoma, Monday, February 26, 2024) GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) media advocacy organization, is releasing new information about student action and community demands in Owasso, Oklahoma, after the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict earlier this month. Nex was nonbinary and of Choctaw descent.

Happening today:

• A student walkout is underway across the street from Owasso High School, where Nex was bullied and beaten in the school bathroom, and died the next day.
• Photos and videos here
• The national landmark Stonewall Inn in New York City is hosting a vigil at 5:30p ET tonight in remembrance of Nex and to demand safety and justice nationwide for all LGBTQ people

Thousands gathered at vigils across the country over the weekend to demand justice for Nex and feel support and solidarity:

• Photos and video of vigils in Owasso, Tulsa and Norman, Oklahoma, via GLAAD.

Friends remembered Nex (using both he/him and they/them pronouns for Nex): “The first thing I noticed was how (Nex) was never afraid to authentically be themselves… They were such a brave, talented and playful soul that knew exactly how to light up a room…He was an amazing friend. I loved him dearly. He will always be missed.”

• AP coverage In Owasso:
  • “Sadness and anger are my two main emotions right now. This should not happen.”
  • “All children deserve to be loved and celebrated and accepted for who they are.”
  • Oklahoma City, Freedom Oklahoma: “We know the grieving is not over. Neither is the rage. But as communities in and beyond Oklahoma gathered this weekend to mourn and honor Nex Benedict, we saw so much love and determination in the face of hate and heartache. We make this promise to you: we will carry Nex’s light forward. We will shine that light on the harms Oklahoma officials have willingly overlooked. We will make sure that light is a beacon of love and community for 2SLGBTQ+ folks. We will continue to talk about the intersections of 2SLGBTQ+ hate and the MMIR [Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives] epidemic. And we will continue to grow this movement, to work together, to build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ folks have the safety to thrive.”

• Tulsa: “A lot of people are feeling really alone right now. A lot of the LGBTQ+ community is feeling like they really don’t have any support system in place right now. There’s a lot of people who are really, really scared.” – Julia Core, Psychologist
• El Paso, Texas, where Nex Benedict was born in 2008: “We’ve come so far as a society where people are finally able to be their true selves, and that is scaring people in power… we have so much power, and they took that from a young person in a school where they should have been protected.” – Alexandra Anello/Texas State Representative Candidate
• Tahlequah, Oklahoma: “If anything we are impassioned, the fire in our belly has been lit up again to continue to fight. If anything it doesn’t oppress or keep us from our voice from being heard. If anything it makes it louder.”- Sanj Cooper
• Huntington Beach, California: “I woke up to a text message that said, ‘I’m so afraid of getting a call from my school that my kid has been beaten to death. That’s a reality for people here in Orange County, so yes, you might look at this and go, ‘This happened a world away. This happened several states, a different time zone,’ but Nex Benedict’s story, that’s the story of every trans and nonbinary person here in Orange County.” – Kanan Durham

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis responded:
“Students and families are out in force having to demand the basics: to be safe from bullying and violence. It is appalling and shameful that Nex Benedict endured a year of anti-LGBTQ harassment, then a brutal beating in the school bathroom. Some of Nex’s last words described how they did not think anyone in school would do anything to help them. Policies that discriminate against students for who they are, that ban students from bathrooms, school activities, even their own pronouns, create unsafe environments. Every school district in America, every state legislature, every parent and family, must take steps today to end this horrific era of targeting children. LGBTQ youth need our protection. They need to hear what you are doing to keep them safe.”

Over the weekend, GLAAD also responded to the Owasso Police Department releasing bodycam footage of an officer questioning Nex in the hospital after the assault in the bathroom, as well as the release of Nex’s mother’s 911 call and release of school surveillance footage showing a disoriented Nex after the attack.

NOTE: It is inaccurate and irresponsible to report “cause of death” or “not cause of death” including with attribution to Owasso police, who have also said the investigation is ongoing, and that the medical examiner’s report has not been completed. 

In the hospital bed interview, Nex and Sue Benedict detailed horrors of attack and 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. 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.

The police officer questioning Nex and Sue Benedict:

• discouraged Sue Benedict from asking him to file a police report, said 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.”
• 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.
• described the verbal bullying of Nex by classmates as “free speech.”
• 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.”

Popular Information published new reporting last week showing significant concerns with the Owasso Police Department’s handling of the case, including how large sections of the Owasso Police’s February 21 statement were copied verbatim from a statement released by Owasso Public Schools on February 20. 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.”

GLAAD continues to elevate the anti-LGBTQ records of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, including advocating for and signing bills into law banning students from the bathroom, from essential health care that’s supported by every major medical association, bans from school sports, and bans prohibiting students from changing identity documents even when the student and family request them.

Gov. Stitt’s record of anti-LGBTQ legislation, policy and rhetoric is documented here.

OK State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ anti-LGBTQ record is documented here.

Additional background

• ACLU is tracking 54 anti-LGBTQ bills in Oklahoma, leading the nation for proposals targeting LGBTQ people this legislative session
• The FBI reported that from 2018 to 2022, the number of hate crimes in schools nearly doubled. Research from GLAAD and the Center on Extremism counted 700+ anti-LGBTQ incidents of extremism including violence, assaults, murders, or vandalism last year.

Further information and rolling updates posted at glaad.org/nex