Vigils held nationwide for nonbinary Okla. teen

Vigils took place across the nation Friday and Saturday for an Oklahoma teenager who died the day after a fight in a high school bathroom in which the nonbinary student claimed to be a target of bullying.

Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Oklahoma student who identified as nonbinary and used they/them pronouns, got into an altercation with three girls in an Owasso High School bathroom who were picking on Benedict and some friends. The girls attacked Benedict for pouring water on them, the teen told police in a video released Friday.

Benedict’s mother called emergency responders to the family home the day after the fight, saying Benedict’s breathing was shallow, their eyes rolling back and their hands curled, said audio released by Owasso police.

Vigils for Benedict were held at locations including Boston, Minneapolis and Huntington Beach, California. Others were held or planned in several states, including Washington, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

At a vigil Saturday in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the president of TahlEquality said the rights group arranged for licensed therapists to be available at the event. “It’s really hard being an LGBT community member in Oklahoma nowadays because suicide ideation and suicidal thoughts happen quite a bit,” Sanj Cooper said.

More than two dozen people gathered Friday at All Saints Episcopal Church in McAlester, Oklahoma. Matt Blancett, who organized the vigil with the McAlester Rainbow Connection, an LGBTQ+ group, said it was important to hold a vigil there because of the murder of Dustin Parker, a transgender man, in McAlester in 2020. “It shows people that we have a community, we are here, we’re not going anywhere,” Blancett said.