A non-binary student’s death one evening after a battle in a high school restroom in Oklahoma resulted in widespread outcry and White House condemnation.
Owasso police say the investigation into 16-year-old Nex Benedict’s death on February 8 is ongoing, with the state medical examiner’s office ruling it a suicide. Family members have claimed that their child was a victim of bullying at the school because Nex identified as nonbinary and neither male nor female. On March 27, a full report on Benedict’s passing is expected to be made public.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the initial investigation statement from the floor at Friday’s media briefing, calling Benedict’s death “devastating”.
“Every young person deserves the basic right and freedom to be who they are, feel safe and supported in their communities,” according to Jean-Pierre, as the president stated yesterday. “Bullying is totally unethical, and it is on all of us to take reports of abuse seriously.”
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Malia Pila, Nex Benedict poses outside the mother’s apartment in Owasso, Oklahoma, in December 2023. The demise of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary scholar the day after a struggle inside an Oklahoma high school restroom, has been ruled a death, the state medical examiner’s office said Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Sue Benedict via AP)This story discusses death. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, kindly call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
The Benedict family made a statement through an attorney, stating that although Nex’s death was declared a suicide, there are “other pertinent portions of the report” that shouldn’t be “overshadowed by the ‘classification’ of Nex’s death.”
“The Benedicts feel compelled to provide a description of those studies that have not yet been made public by the Medical Examiner’s office, especially those that refute claims that the assault on Nex was insignificant,” the family lawyer said.
Information released by the family includes that the child suffered non-destructive head and neck pain, including contusions, lacerations, and abrasions. According to the part of the full medical examiner’s report that the family released, an unexplained bruise on Nex’s torso was consistent with one that had taken place during CPR.
“The Benedicts continue to call on our institutions, executives, politicians, and areas to come together to prevent any other family from having to suffer through the grief now borne by Nex’s loved ones,” the attorney said. “All parties involved should be able to support changes that are made by creating schools that are built on the principles of respect, inclusion, and grace and aim to eliminate bullying and hate.”
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LGBTQ+ advocates attribute Nex’s death to gender identity-based bullying and harassment, as well as “rhetoric and policies” promoted by Republicans in Oklahoma, such as laws that forbid children from receiving cross-sex hormone therapy or sex-reassignment surgery. They have demanded the resignation of Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters, who claimed there are only two genders, both male and female, and that preferred names and pronouns for students who are not related to their genders should not be used.
In a statement released in February, Freedom Oklahoma, the state’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, stated that “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,” the group said.
Walters claims that the left has used Benedict’s tragic death to advance their own agenda.
In an interview in February, he told the New York Times, “I think it’s terrible that we’ve had some radical leftists who decided to run with a political agenda and try to weave a narrative that hasn’t been true.” “You’ve taken a tragedy, and you’ve had some folks try to exploit it for political gain.”
“We’ve been told Benedict’s death wasn’t directly related to the fight at school,” he added.
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According to CDC data, 57% of high school students have persistent depressive or hopeless feelings. (iStock)According to the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s report, the teen died from a combined overdose of Benadryl and Prozac. The previous day, the school restroom was the scene of the altercation.
On February 7th, Nex tells a police officer that the teen and a friend group were the subject of mockery because of the way they dressed. In video footage from the hospital, the incident occurred. Benedict, who preferred they/them pronouns, claims that in the restroom the students said
“something like: Why do they laugh like that?” referring to Nex and friends.
The teen tells the officer from a hospital bed, “And so I went up there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me.”
“They came at me. They grabbed onto my hair. I grabbed onto them.” According to the Associated Press, the teen says in the video that one of them was placed in a paper towel dispenser and then they pulled my legs out from under me and put me on the ground.
The teenager was allegedly subjected to physical abuse to the point of blackout.
After rushing the unresponsive Nex to the hospital where the teen later died, paramedics responded to a 911 call at the Benedict family’s home the following day.
On Thursday, the day after Nex’s death was ruled a suicide, the White House released a statement saying that President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were “heartbroken” by the loss.
“Every young person should feel safe and supported in their communities and at school, and they should have the fundamental right to be who they are. Nex Benedict, a child who just wanted to be accepted, should still be here with us today,” Biden said.
The president urged the country to show solidarity with non-binary and transgender people and “recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis that affects too many non-binary and transgender children.”
“Bullying is cruel and hurtful, and no one should be subject to the bullying Nex did. Parents and schools must take reports of bullying seriously,” Biden said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
