On February 28, 2024, Nex Benedict, a nonbinary student, was attacked in Oklahoma, while using the school restroom. Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old sophomore at Owasso High School, enjoyed drawing, reading, and playing video games such as Ark and Minecraft. Although the investigation is still ongoing, the CRLS community feels that there is much to share.
When asked about his reaction, Finn Graham ’26 expressed to the Register Forum that he was “both shocked and also not surprised because this was going to happen, with all of the new laws that have been introduced last year, specifically targeting queer youth, specifically trans youth.” To put this into perspective, the ACLU found 478 bills that attack LGBTQ+ rights in US state legislatures this past year. “It’s really heartbreaking what happens to the individual like Nex Benedict, but it’s also just really heartbreaking to know that we haven’t moved past that [behavior],” Mr. Montero, CRLS history teacher, told the Register Forum. As for its effect, many more people are talking about what went down in Oklahoma. “Why did it take this long for people to notice that trans people are being killed?” Michael Cook ‘25 relayed to the Register Forum.
When it comes to the CRLS community, discussions surrounding aiding queer students have been had for staff members, specifically teachers, “Most of the [Professional Development] day…was dedicated to talking about serving our queer students,” Mr. Montero claims. However, these discussions seem to be lost when you consider the experience queer students face in our very own hallways. “I’m glad that I was eventually listened to,” Graham said, “and that change was brought about…I also think like, I walk down the hall every single day and hear F-slurs and T-slurs and it’s constant. And I think that staff are so used to it or just don’t feel like dealing with it…there’s really no problem or consequence with it, but it doesn’t create a safe environment at all.”
Cook shares a similar sentiment adding, “One time we actually had an emergency meeting because someone wrote homophobic things to one of [Project 10’s] posters…We had to take it down.” Cook continues stating that “When we do the [events] on those activity days…only queer people go to those things. The people who actually need to go to those things don’t, because they don’t have to and they don’t care…I think the school does a good amount but they kind of just do the bare minimum…We shouldn’t have to deal with fixing the f*cking world, it should just not have to be fixed.”
After the incident, it was revealed on March 13th that Nex Benedict’s cause of death was suicide. It was previously thought that the cause of death was head trauma, but examinations from medical personnel discovered that Nex died of an overdose. Because the situation is still ongoing, there is still much that we do not know, including when it comes to addressing ongoing bullying and . With everything that has been happening in Oklahoma, will discussions be enough to prevent this from happening in our communities? As of now, it seems that only time will tell.
