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On Feb. 7, 16 year-old sophomore Nex Benedict went into the girls’ bathroom at the high school in Owasso, Oklahoma. An altercation occurred in the bathroom which ended in Nex receiving a serious head injury. Three students were involved in the altercation. The school did not call an ambulance nor did they report the incident to police. Nex had been consistently bullied since school started last fall because they identified as non-binary. This means that Nex considered themselves neither a boy nor a girl. Nex was just Nex. Family members took Nex to the hospital where they were released that same evening. No CT scan was done to assess them for a concussion, in spite of the fact that Nex had blacked out during the assault. The next morning, Nex died.

Oklahoma has the most anti-LGBTQ+ youth legislation. Their laws force youth to use the bathroom which matches their birth certificate gender. That is what Nex did.

The governor of Oklahoma has supported legislation to discriminate against all LGBTQ+ youth. The school superintendent produced a video that says the schools will not tolerate any gender diverse youth. This same superintendent appointed an incendiary blog poster to be on the Advisory Committee for the Oklahoma schools. These adult actions set the stage for what happened.

These laws that target our youth have real life consequences. Nex is dead. The other students’ lives will be forever changed no matter the legal outcome. All of these students in Oklahoma were pawns in an “adult” political game. It isn’t a game. Every student has the right to feel and be safe at school. How do we help this be the case in our school districts? This merits some hard questions.

PFLAG Skagit is a local non-profit that supports, advocates for and educates about the LGBTQ+ community. Our passion is making the world community a more welcoming place for our community.

Melanie Moonstone

Linden Jordan

PFLAG Skagit