A gender fluid transgender teenager is now dead in Oklahoma after being brutally beaten in a high school bathroom. Their name was Nex Benedict. And they went to Owasso High School in Oklahoma. And we need to talk about how many people failed them and how this was a tragedy that was waiting to happen.
Just one month ago, the transphobic state superintendent Ryan Walters appointed Chaya Raichik, who runs libs of TikTok, a major anti trans hate account, as part of an initiative to make schools safer. Now, Chaya herself has very famously put out posts that were then followed by bomb threats, and when called out on it, she posed proudly with a paper that said so. Meanwhile, Superintendent Ryan Walters directed the Oklahoma Department of Education to put out videos that said that trans people were dangerous in bathrooms and that trans people in bathrooms are an assault on truth.
The only person assaulted was Nex Benedict, a trans and non binary teenager. Whenever hate is put into leadership positions, what do you think you're teaching all of the kids in Oklahoma? Tragedies like this are bound to happen.
25 years ago, Matthew shepherd was also brutally beaten for being a gay person, a gay student, and his death at least led to change. We got hate crime legislation eventually, but it took a long time. How long is it going to take to protect our trans kids?
I don't want more Brianna's and Eden's and Ariana's. I don't want more trans young people to lose their lives. I report on these bills every single day. I write. I tell you what's going on in a just world, Nexus name would lead to change in the exact same way that Matthew Shepard's name did. We know that Nex's family is supportive. We know that next is going to be buried under the name that they chose. The name that Ryan Walters tried to take away, the name that people like Chaya Raichik don't want them to have. That same name needs to lead to change.
