Oklahoma State Rep. Mauree Turner, who became the U.S.’ first nonbinary legislator when elected four years ago, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 students and LGBTQ+ activists outside the Oklahoma State Capitol on Thursday, a day after a preliminary autopsy report ruled the death of Nex Benedict a suicide.
Nex, a transgender teen from Owasso, Oklahoma, died in February, a day after being involved in an altercation inside a school bathroom. The 16-year-old told police that they had their head repeatedly hit against a bathroom floor and lost consciousness during the fight.
Nex’s family said the teenager had been bullied at the school for months.Students rallied outside the Oklahoma State Capitol on Thursday to call for an end to harmful legislation against LGBTQ+ people and to call for the removal of State Superintendent of Education, Ryan Walters, from office.
Oklahoma lawmakers proposed more than 50 bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community this session, the most in the country, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Lawmakers in the state have banned trans and nonbinary students from using the bathrooms that align with their gender identity, eliminated gender-affirming care for minors, prohibited Pride flags and passed a law narrowly defining “male” and “female.”
Turner spoke to the crowd about relying on each other and their community for comfort and said they must lean on each other as the fuel for change.
“Our liberation will not come from policy in this building,” Turner told the crowd. “Our community care and preservation will not come from policy in this building. We build that in community with each other every day, even on the days when it’s hard to wake up and get out of bed.”
President Joe Biden released a statement on Thursday saying he is “heartbroken” about Nex’s death and that “In memory of Nex, we must recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children.”
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