Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights expressed outrage following an announcement that no criminal charges will be filed against the Oklahoma teens involved in a high school bathroom fight with Nex Benedict, the non-binary 16-year-old who was ruled by the authorities to have subsequently taken their own life, the county district attorney said.
The president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (Glaad), Sarah Kate Ellis, criticized the decision by the Tulsa county district attorney, Steve Kunzweiler, who had cited as part of his decision that he deemed the incident in which Nex reported three students “coming at me” as “an instance of mutual combat”.
“Time and time again, leaders in Oklahoma have showed that they don’t value Nex’s life, or the lives of other Indigenous and 2STGNC+ [Two Spirit, transgender, and gender-nonconforming+] students,” Ellis said, adding, while calling out the high school Benedict attended: “Everyone from Superintendent Walters and Owasso high school to the unaccredited-since-2009 state medical examiner’s office, the district attorney, and Owasso police department have failed Nex.”
Ellis called for an independent investigation, saying: “We will never stop seeking justice for Nex and we will never stop holding leaders accountable to serving their communities fairly and with compassion.”
Bryan Paddack, the founder of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Rural Oklahoma Pride, condemned the failure of officials to address bullying and discrimination that targets LGBTQ+ youth in comments to KOCO News: “If we can’t report it to our senators, our governors, our president, what makes you think our children are going to want to point it out to our teachers, or principals, when nothing is going to happen?”
Kunzweiler said that after reviewing the investigation by the Owasso police department, he agreed with an assessment from detectives that charges were not warranted arising from the fight between the teen and three girls.
“When I review a report and make a decision to file a charge I must be convinced – as is every prosecutor – that a crime was committed and that I have reasonable belief that a judge or jury would be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed,” Kunzweiler said. “From all the evidence gathered, this fight was an instance of mutual combat.”
Kunzweiler also said Owasso police found a “suicide note” written by Nex, although he declined to say what the note said. The state medical examiner determined last week that Nex’s death in February was a suicide.
An attorney for the Benedict family, Jacob Biby, said he did not expect the family to comment on the district attorney’s decision. In a statement last week, however, the family called on schools, administrators and lawmakers to come together and push for reforms that seek to end bullying.
In video footage from the hospital the day of the altercation, Nex explains to an officer that the girls had been picking on them and their friends because of the way they dressed. Nex claims that in the bathroom the students said “something like: ‘why do they laugh like that?’”, referring to Nex and their friends.
“And so I went up there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me,” Nex told the officer from a hospital bed.
Nex’s family has said there had been harassment because of the teen’s non-binary identity, and federal officials have opened an investigation into the school district, according to a letter sent earlier this month by the US Department of Education.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
