Autopsy reveals cause of death of Oklahoma teenager Nex Benedict
An autopsy revealed that Nex Benedict died of an overdose a day after an argument in an Oklahoma high school restroom.
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The death of Nex Benedict on February 8 has caused outrage, pain and concern among many, especially in the LGBTQ community. An Oklahoma teenager was involved in an altercation in their high school restroom, and authorities said Wednesday that the teenager died a day later of an overdose that the medical examiner ruled a suicide.
From The Oklahoman: Nex Benedict’s family responds to medical examiner’s report
Amid accusations of harassment and anti-LGBTQ policies in Oklahoma and elsewhere, advocates are calling for more support for children and teens who feel disheartened by Benedict’s death, anti-transgender rhetoric and escalating violence against the community. Owasso Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Coates called Benedict’s death “devastating.” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters called Benedict’s death a “tragedy” but also said LGBTQ groups were “pushing a false narrative.”
“The system didn’t just fail Nex,” said Kathy Renna, director of communications for the National LGBTQ Task Force and a longtime activist. “They failed the children who attacked them.
Benedict, a 16-year-old Choctaw who uses the pronouns he/him and they/them, was bullied because of their gender identity; they identified as sexually expansive, the teenager’s friends said.
“While at Owasso High School, Nex was attacked and assaulted in the bathroom by a group of other students,” Benedict’s family said in a statement in the days after the teenager’s death. “A day later, Benedict’s beautiful child lost his life.
The teenager’s death may have marked a turning point for gender non-conforming people and their loved ones, said the leader of a group that wants to tell the stories of transgender and non-binary young people.
“Transgender and non-binary kids are here, they’re remarkable, they’re just like other kids, and they’re part of the fabric of this country,” said Jennifer Grosshandler, co-founder and executive director of the GenderCool Project.
A recent Gallup poll found that the number of people whose gender or sexual identity is something other than heterosexual has doubled since 2012. About 1 in 8 of those people who identify as LGBTQ say they are transgender. These numbers are driven by young people: more than 1 in 5 adults aged 18-26 identify as LGBTQ+ and nearly 1 in 10 adults aged 27-42 say they are LGBTQ+.
Hate, violence and angry rhetoric directed at young people who don’t conform to traditional gender identities “is driven by adults and accepted by a small number of young people who think it’s okay to treat human beings this way.” , said Grosshandler, whose daughter, Chazy, is transgender. “It just isn’t.”
Rena recalled a gathering of LGBTQ+ youth where participants refused to be categorized by gender. “They said, ‘Don’t make us tick a box. We don’t want boxes at all.” The generations coming up are cool with fluidity, while the rest of the culture is like, ‘What do you mean there’s more than two genders?’
“The challenge,” she said, “is that institutions haven’t caught up. Laws and institutions are always slower to catch up with culture.”
Visibility, Rena admits, can be a double-edged sword.
“With visibility comes backlash,” she said. “It took us decades to get to where we are as gays and lesbians, but now our trans brothers and sisters are being targeted because fewer people know a trans person.”
Grosshandler said the best gift a parent can give their child is love.
“When your child comes to you and says this is me, the most important thing is to believe it and love it,” she said.
Contributed by Clytie Bunyan, The Oklahoman
Contact Phaedra Trethan by email at [email protected], on X (formerly Twitter) @wordsbyphaedra or on Threads @by_phaedra.
