For Nex Benedict: A Long Life in the Territory

Allison Connelly-Vetter, a contribution to Bondings 2.0, is today’s guest.

Here are the religious observations for Lent’s third Sunday today.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a bunch about laws. The rapidly changing political environment for LGBTQ+ people in the United States occupies a lot of my attention as a gay woman. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is currently tracking 469 anti-LGBT bills in the United States. At least 510 anti-LGBT bills were introduced in 2023, which is roughly three times the number of bills introduced in 2022. 11 states have laws preventing transgender individuals from using bathrooms that reflect their gender identities as of 2024.

For transgender and nonbinary people, especially young people like Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old of Chahta (Choctaw) heritage and a 16-year-old from Owasso, Oklahoma, these laws have real consequences. Nex adored nature, drawing, reading, playing video games like Ark and Minecraft, watching The Walking Dead, and having a pet rabbit named Zeus. Nex was viciously attacked by other students in the girls’ bathroom at their school on February 7, 2024. Nex passed away the following evening from their injuries. In 2024, Nex was at least the second transgender or nonbinary person to be brutally murdered.

Nex’s passing wasn’t a political accident. Over the past few years, Oklahoma has passed a number of anti-trans laws. Nex’s demise was the result of a fight in a state where gender-affirming care was constitutionally forbidden to use in a school bathroom. Their departure is inseparably linked to the misogynistic laws that oversaw their existence and autonomy.

Today’s first religious reading from Exodus, which is now known as the Ten Commandments, is focused on the laws. A phrase from elementary school, “Honor your [parents], that you may have a long life in the land,” (Ex. focus me at 20:12.

God explains the real meaning of the Ten Commandments in this verse. God doesn’t want His people to be demonized or forced to follow a rigid plan. Instead, God uses these regulations as a gift to enable the “people of God” to live long lives in the framework of their community and their home.

How dissimilar are Oklahoma’s anti-trans laws from God’s laws of love, which are created through fear, intolerance, and deliberate ignorance. Like all of God’s children, Nex Benedict deserved a much longer career in their country. The laws of Oklahoma permitted Nex Benedict’s death, but the law of God forbids their execution.

In tomorrow’s Gospel reading, which includes the well-known story of Jesus clearing the Temple, is the concept that God’s laws are made to help people develop rather than to abuse them. Growing up, I believed that Jesus was just upset that people were selling points at places of worship. But, as I learned in convent, the process of buying and selling animals in the Temple was expected and nearly required because visitors to the Temple needed to buy animals for a sacrifice.

The money changers in the Temple were selling doves for astronomical, aggressive prices, making them the most economical ritual item for the poor. These traders made poor travelers, many of whom were farmers and fishermen and were barely surviving under the oppressive tax of the Roman Empire, to pay huge sums of money in order to make the necessary devotion. This is why Jesus specifically advises the dove-sellers to “take the doves out of this place.” Jesus was protesting the abuse of the poor by clearing the Temple.

Although this story has been interpreted with stories that advance an anti-Jewish agenda, it is appropriate to apply the same kind of economic and legal violence perpetrated against those on the margins in the United States by Christian legislators and lobbyists. In Oklahoma, state lawmaker David Bullard introduced a bill in 2023 that would “make it illegal for doctors to perform sex change procedures on anyone under the age of 26.” A Baptist deacon, Bullard, said, “The law’s name alludes to a passage in the Book of Matthew that says someone who causes a child to sin should be drowned in the water with a stone hung around their throat.” Citing Christian beliefs as the inspiration for this anti-trans law, Bullard said, “I imagine that if Jesus had been existing at the Oklahoma State Senate hear, he would have also flipped some furniture it.

I can’t stop thinking about Nex Benedict and how they should still be here, snuggling up to their rabbit, and improving their video game. Every transgender and nonbinary young person, including Nex Benedict, deserves a long living; a long, enjoyable life of joy, play, and love. A long career in the area, in their area, whether it is Oklahoma, Tennessee, or any of the other far-too-many states with anti-trans legislation on the books.

I sincerely hope we never forget Nex Benedict. While simultaneously decrying stigmatization and abuse, I hope our Christian

faith compels us to work for every child of God’s existence and independence. I hope we turn away from the tables of exploitation, violence, and death that very quickly will take our trans and gay young people.

We pronounce your name, Nex Benedict. We pay tribute to you. We did not give up fighting for the extended life you deserve.

—Allison Connelly-Vetter (she/her), March 3, 2024