Boulder, CO — We're tired.
We’re tired of the homophobic and transphobic laws; of not being safe in certain locations including schools; and we’re tired of the violence. Nex Benedict was the latest victim of this violence. Benedict was a 16-year-old high school student who was attacked in a bathroom in their high school by a group of students and died the next day. [Editor's note: Since this story was originally published, a local medical examiner's autopsy report ruled that Benedict died by suicide. The full report will release on March 27.] I'm unfortunately not surprised that something like this happened.
First and foremost, it's important to acknowledge that legislation the state of Oklahoma has made an unsafe environment for LGBTQIA+people. Laws centered around banning gender-affirming care and Oklahomas's version of a “don't say gay” law were already making it harder for queer people to exist.
These laws are made in the name of “trying to protect children.” Yet, no one was around to try to protect Benedict. When Benedict tried to go to both educational staff and law enforcement they were ignored.
This not only shows Benedict’s school’s inability to protect its students, but it also shows the extent people would go through to allow harm to be done to queer students.
This is both incredibly disheartening and not at all surprising. However, there needs to be more done to prevent this from happening again. Queer children need to be able to feel safe going to school, as 46% of kids who identify as LGBTQIA+ say they have experienced bullying either online or in person.
This number will only grow until there is an overall recognition that LGBTQIA+ people deserve to have our humanity recognized in all spaces of society. That this type of behavior is unacceptable.
However there are ways that people can take action. People can encourage their state representatives to pass laws similar to California's, which aim to arm teachers with the right tools to support queer students. People can also call their representatives to try to repeal legislation that harms queer students. Queer students could be safe in school if we fight for them to be.
Emma Schulman (she/they), is a student journalist and filmmaker majoring in political science at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Edited by Amber Ly and shaylyn martos