Love Letters to Trans Oklahomans - 2024

This morning, during trans week of advocacy and action, the day before the State Board of Education meets, seven weeks after Nex Benedict died, two weeks after summary results were released, the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office released a full autopsy report for Nex Benedict. It does not differ from summary reports, and while it does leave us with questions about why these reports have taken so long to be shared with the public, it does not offer many of the answers folks are still seeking. And it does nothing to change the fundamental injustice of the situation: Nex Benedict was a 16 year-old Indigenous student at an Oklahoma school who was relentlessly bullied for his transness for over a year, and who died the day after being physically beaten in a school bathroom. Nex is a 16 year-old, who should still be alive. And tomorrow a body that has empowered so much of the harm against trans students will meet. And no one in or beyond that body has yet taken seriously the need to address their role in the harm and take action to keep 2SLGBTQ+ students safe.

Thursday, March 21, more than a month after Nex Benedict died the day after being beaten and receiving head wounds from a fight at school in a bathroom facility Nex was mandated by law to use despite it not aligning with his gender, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler followed what has been thus far a united front from Oklahoma law enforcement surrounding Nex Benedict’s death, announcing his office would be taking no action in response to ongoing calls for justice and independent investigations the family is being forced to carry out.

2SLGBTQ+ people have always been, and will always be in Oklahoma. We deserve the safety to learn, to thrive here. We deserve decision makers at every level of governance who are doing everything within their power to ensure our youngest and most vulnerable residents are safe. Instead, Nex’s death further proves that–far from being a threat to anyone–Two Spirit, transgender, and gender nonconforming+ (2STGNC+) students are the ones who are threatened; they are under attack in Oklahoma schools, and they are under a coordinated attack by extremist politicians who care more about their political aspirations and media appearances than about the impact of their policies and rhetoric on 2SLGBTQ+ lives.

We know the grieving is not over. Neither is the rage. But as communities in and beyond Oklahoma gathered this weekend to mourn and honor Nex Benedict, we saw so much love and determination in the face of hate and heartache. We know we’ll have continued calls to action in the days and months ahead. We know we’ll continue to have to fight at the legislature and the State Board of Education and on the ground, as much as we’ll continue the work to build community in each of those spaces, so we get closer to safety. For those of you meeting this moment, do not lose momentum. For those of you who have been in the fight, remember to care for yourself. We make this promise to you: we will carry Nex's light forward. We will shine that light on the harms Oklahoma officials have willingly overlooked. We will make sure that light is a beacon of love and community for 2SLGBTQ+ folks. We will continue to talk about the intersections of 2SLGBTQ+ hate and the MMIR epidemic. And we will continue to grow this movement, to work together, to build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ folks have the safety to thrive.

Nex should still be alive. Nex deserved not only a safe and nurturing environment to learn, but an environment that actively disrupted anti-2STGNC+ rhetoric and worked to ensure that vulnerable students were safe. Owasso schools failed to create that environment for Nex. And we know that is the story for too many kids across our state. We want to be clear, whether Nex died as a direct result of injuries sustained in the brutal hate-motivated attack at school or not, Nex’s death is a result of being the target of physical and emotional harm because of who Nex was. This harm is absolutely related to the rhetoric and policies that are commonplace at the Oklahoma Legislature, the State Department of Education, and the Governor’s office, with regard to dehumanizing 2STGNC+ people.

HB 3219: Two Spirit, Trans, and Intersex Identity Document Ban

HB 3217: God Hates Flags? Pride flags, events, the latest targets in Legislative Attempts to Chill Speech, Isolate 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans

So, I’m asking you as we kick off February, to think about the pieces of this patchwork of advocacy you’re willing to take on. Ahead of HIV is Not a Crime Day on February 28 and National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on February 7, can you plug into our HIV decriminalization work, can you reach out to committees about hearing proposals that advance that work legislatures (HB 4139 and SB 1418), can you share resources to make sure you and the folks in your life know their HIV status? Or, maybe you’re into the patchwork of a tracking spreadsheet we’ve built to amplify what we’re keeping an eye on this session, and you want to reach out about how you can amplify that advocacy or plug in on a particular bill effort? Or, as we celebrate our third annual Youth Action Month (YAM), maybe you can make sure youth are aware of all of the opportunities to plug into creative advocacy outlets with our Freedom Oklahoma team.

It can be devastating to be an Oklahoman who cares. Yesterday, many of us who believed the current decision makers in our government could no longer surprise us, found ourselves still shocked to learn of the appointment of Chaya Raichik, founder of Libs of TikTok and resident of Los Angeles, CA, to serve on an Oklahoma State Department of Education Committee tasked with leading the efforts on book bans and library content censorship across Oklahoma public schools and public charter schools. This is not the first out of state advisor State Superintendent Walters has brought in, but given the direct ties between Raichik’s Libs of TikTok videos and bomb threats which have caused measurable distress and threat of harm to students and school staff at multiple Oklahoma school districts, this appointment is especially distressing.