Beyond the Bigotry: LGBTQ+ Youth Lives at Risk
Written By: Adam Varoqua, freelance writer, check out their Instagram: @avaroqu
Writer’s Notes:
- Benedict’s friends shared that Nex used both they/them and he/him pronouns. To maintain consistency, this article uses they/them pronouns to refer to Nex.
- TW: Mentions of bullying & suicide
Photo of Nex Benedict, courtesy of Nex’s GoFundMe page
Nex Benedict should be alive right now. On February 8, 2024, the 16 year-old non-binary child, died of suicide as determined by Oklahoma investigators. Their death followed a day after they were attacked in their school by other students. As Sue Benedict, Nex’s mother, shared with The Independent, Nex was bullied constantly by their peers due to their gender identity. As of the time of writing, no one has been charged for Nex’s death.
This article is both about the injustice done to Nex Benedict, and the current state of affairs for LGBTQ+ youth in this country. Because Nex’s death did not occur in a vacuum.
As documented by the ACLU, there have been over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures throughout the country. Specifically, in the state of Oklahoma, eight anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced within the state legislature. While the majority haven’t advanced, two have, with one bill just signed into law by the Governor of Oklahoma.
That bill signed into law, HB 1449, dubbed as both the “Women’s Bills of Rights” and “The Trans Erasure Act,” would define being a man and a woman with a person’s biological sex at birth, basically excluding people who are trans or non-binary from accessing services that match their gender identity, such as domestic violence shelters, locker rooms, restrooms, and other spaces. Nex Benedict was assaulted in the girls’ restroom of their school, as they weren’t allowed to use the boys’ bathroom, and there were no gender-neutral restrooms available. Oklahoma passed a law in 2022 mandating that students in public and public charter schools must use the restrooms with the sex listed on their birth certificate.
Make no mistake; queer and trans youth are under attack from various state legislators and elected officials pushing a homophobic and transphobic agenda. For instance, when Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, was asked a question on the gender binary in an interview with ABC News, he said, “We’ve seen radical leftists who’ve tried to create this idea of gender fluidity, which frankly, it confuses students, and causes all kinds of chaos in the classroom and chaos with families.” His comments came after Nex’s death.
One can say that the real chaos comes from elected officials and lawmakers who create outright homophobic and transphobic policies, creating an environment where children, like Nex Benedict, are bullied and denied services aligned with their gender identity. An environment which can lead to the death of children like Nex.
Oklahoma is just one of many examples where children are under attack for who they are. From Florida passing the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” in 2022, to Texas banning trans and non-binary youth from accessing gender-affirming care in 2023, the state of human rights for the LGBTQ+ community in the country-especially for youth-have been deteriorating.
We are seeing the impact of these bills, along with the general rise of homophobia and transphobia, among queer and trans youth. As shared by the Trevor Project’s 2024. U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, 90% of LGBTQ+ youth reported that their well-being was negatively affected by the current political situation happening across the country. On top of that, 45% of trans and non-binary youth shared that their families were considering moving to states that are more gender-affirming.
Our queer, trans, and non-binary children deserve better. They deserve the right to enter adulthood. They deserve long lives, basic human rights, and dignity. They deserve to be in states that pass bills protecting their rights, not stripping them away. They deserve to be in schools that are safe for them. Nex Benedict deserved that.