[00:00:03]
Host: Please care about this story. We have been following the tragedy in Oklahoma, where a non binary student. Nex Benedict died one day after a fight in the high school bathroom. Police say that their death was not from trauma, according to a preliminary autopsy report. In a statement obtained by our NBC News affiliate, an attorney for the Benedict urged authorities to investigate quickly and fairly, adding, quote, the Benedicts know all too well the devastating effects of bullying and school violence, and pray for a meaningful change where bullying is taken seriously and no family has to deal with another preventable tragedy. In a statement, the high school expressed their commitment to student safety and security and released what information they could in coordination with the police investigation. State Representative Zooey Zephyr joins me now. She's the first transgender woman elected to the Montana legislature. Zooey the death of a young person is always difficult. So I just want to get how you feel right now. You're a member of this community. I'm quite sure you know the effects of bullying. How are you feeling tonight?
[00:01:14]
Zac Raasch: We mourn. We mourn the loss of a life that should have been. I know as a stepmother of an eight year old, we think about when we send our children to school, we want them to come back better, brighter, and fundamentally, we want them to come back alive. And what we see here is a situation where a 16 year old had faced repeated bullying over the course of a year and was allegedly assaulted by three of their classmates and died the next day. That is not how any life should come to an end.
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Host: You are a lawmaker, so I am sure you have spent an enormous amount of time in the last 24 hours using every resource you have to figure out as much as you possibly can about this story. What stands out to you most about what happened here?
[00:02:05]
Zac Raasch: There's a couple of things that stand out to me. On one hand, you had another student of this high school coming out in social media saying that they trans students saying they face daily harassment, including being called slurs from teachers at the high school. You referenced the police report saying that this was not related to trauma. There was another report coming out saying that they were subpoenaining phones from students due to concerns about foul play. So for me, our community recognizes a hate crime when we see one. And this has all the markings of it. And it's doubly concerning when the state superintendent has called trans people an assault on truth and appointed libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichek to the school library board. We see the way the anti trans rhetoric directly leads to violence. And for me, that is the most concerning thing, these deaths are preventable, but they will continue to happen if people continue to espouse fear and bring forward hateful legislation around trans people in our communities.
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Host: The human rights campaign is calling for an investigation into this. Are you concerned that something is being missed by the local police?
[00:03:28]
Zac Raasch: We have a situation where the family of Nex Benedict is talking about how concerning the facts around the case are. And to me, you should not be in a situation where the family is running against the police, saying, someone do something, someone do something. The nature of the conflicting police reports around concerns around foul play, along with saying that a student who was assaulted by three of their classmates did not die in relationship to that assault the day before. I think if we want to get to justice for next benedict and their family, the Department of Justice needs to step in. I know the human rights campaign has been in communication with them. I have been in communication with the Department of Justice as well. Having a federal investigation into this seems to be the way to most likely lead to justice for Nex Benedict and their family.
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Host: A minute ago, you touched on sort of the impact that anti trans rhetoric has in terms of bullying. But what about the laws? Right? Republican Governor Kevin Sitt called Nexus death a tragedy and denounced bullying. But this is the same person who has signed several laws that targets transgender children. Does that kind of stuff exacerbate the bullying?
[00:04:49]
Zac Raasch: It absolutely does. And it's important to note that the harm happens when the laws are in effect, but it also happens when the laws are brought forward. We had teens flee the state of Montana when their lives were being debated in the Montana house. We had a teen attempt suicide while watching one of the hearings. And it is hypocritical for a superintendent or governor to come forward and know we care about this student. We care about their lives when they have brought forward policy, have promoted policies that directly harm our communities. The superintendent, the governor lives of TikTok Chai Raichek. They did not kill this student, but there's blood on their hands.
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Host: Zooey, I know I'm out of time, but as you're speaking, I want to give you a chance. What is your message tonight? Right there are scared, especially scared young people who are in the LGBTQIA community, non binary people, trans people that are scared, maybe scared to go to work, maybe scared to go to school tomorrow. What is your message to them tonight?
[00:06:00]
Zac Raasch: We see that the Rainbow Youth project had a 300% uptick in crisis calls this week for LGBTQ youth. My message is, I know how hard it is, and we just have to find spaces within our community to hold on to one another throughout the history of attacks on LGBTQ people, whether it is today, the has been our community who has held one another up throughout these attacks, we are going to win in the end through this moral panic. They will not ultimately eliminate our rights. Trans people will always exist in the interim, hold on to one another and hold on to that hope.
[00:06:42]
Host: Zooey, thank you for joining us. Thank you for your words. And Nex Benedict's family are in all of our thoughts this evening. Thanks again.
