Oklahoma LGBTQ Groups Demand Removal Of Top Schools Official After Nonbinary Student's Death

A group of Oklahoma LGBTQ and advocacy organizations is calling for the removal of the state’s top education official, following the death of a nonbinary student earlier this month.

In a letter penned to the state’s legislature on Wednesday, more than 300 advocacy and LGBTQ organizations, including Freedom Oklahoma, GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, alleged that Ryan Walters, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, is “responsible for fostering a culture of violence and hate against the 2SLGBTQI+ community in Oklahoma schools.”

They argued that Walters created a hostile environment at Oklahoma schools which contributed to the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict, who was assaulted in a school bathroom earlier this month.

Benedict had been bullied since last year, the Independent reported, shortly after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt ® signed a law requiring students to use bathrooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificate.

“Superintendent Walters’ reprehensible conduct shows a willful rejection of his duty to protect the health and welfare of the children in Oklahoma’s public schools and instead has created an environment that allows for hostility and harm for youth like Nex,” the letter stated.

“We are outraged that a climate of hate and bigotry has been not only allowed to thrive, but encouraged by the person who is responsible for education in the state of Oklahoma. State officials must be held accountable for bringing the politics of hate into Oklahoma’s schools and making our most vulnerable youth pay the price.”

Walters has faced calls for his ouster before. Last month, he faced backlash for passing an emergency rule to bar students from changing the gender marker listed on their school files.