Oklahoma’s queer community mourns 16-year-old in state that leads the nation in anti-LGBTQ bills

Oklahoma’s queer community is reeling after the death of an LGBTQ teen who allegedly faced bullying at school for months.

Nex Benedict, 16, died Feb. 8, a day after the Owasso High School sophomore was allegedly assaulted in a school bathroom, according to Nex’s family. There are still a lot of unknowns, and a police investigation is ongoing.

But the information that is available about Nex’s identity, the bullying they allegedly faced at school, and the effects of recently enacted state laws targeting LGBTQ students have left Oklahoma’s queer and trans communities both angry and in mourning.

Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict, told the Independent that Nex was bullied due to their gender identity starting in the fall, after the state implemented a new law that bars transgender students from using the school bathrooms that align with their gender identities.

Though it’s unclear exactly how Nex identified, Benedict told the Independent that Nex “did not see themselves as male or female. Nex saw themselves right down the middle.” The family continues to use they/them pronouns for Nex in statements and on a fundraising page.

It’s also unclear whether the fight in the bathroom was connected to the bullying Nex told their family about. However, some LGBTQ Oklahomans and members of the community nationwide believe it’s impossible to separate Nex’s death from the surge in legislation and rhetoric targeting the community in the state.

“While various investigations are still pending, the facts currently known by the family, some of which have been released to the public, are troubling at best,” the Benedict family said in a statement released Wednesday by their attorney, Jacob Biby.

The Owasso Police Department said in a statement