Oklahoma police are investigating a nonbinary teen's death after a fight...

[Jessica_Rose]

Oklahoma police are investigating a nonbinary teen's death after a fight in a high school bathroom

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oklahoma-police-are-investigating-a-nonbinary-teen-s-death-after-a-fight-in-a-high-school-bathroom/ar-BB1iFeh5?cvid=7499910cf50944bf84b417c6ab4d25c1&ei=5

Story by By SEAN MURPHY (21 Feb 2024)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Police in Oklahoma are investigating the death of a 16-year-old student who died a day after an altercation in a high school bathroom that may have been prompted by bullying over gender identity.

Neither police nor school officials have said what led to the fight. But the family of Nex Benedict says there had been harassment because the teen was nonbinary.

Stitt's office released a statement Wednesday on behalf of the governor and his wife, Sarah.

"Sarah and I are saddened to learn of the death of Nex Benedict, and our hearts go out to Nex's family, classmates, and the Owasso community," he said. "The death of any child in an Oklahoma school is a tragedy — and bullies must be held accountable."

Among the many anti-trans bills being considered this year in Oklahoma are measures to ban gender-affirming care for adults, prohibit school employees from using a student's preferred pronouns if they don't correspond with the sex assigned at birth and prohibit state laws or executive orders that recognize any gender besides male and female.

"Policies that discriminate and hateful rhetoric spewed by state officials against transgender youth make our schools less safe and deny youth like Nex the future they deserve," ACLU Oklahoma said in a statement.