Content warning: This article contains discussion of transphobia, harassment, violence and death. 

Nex Benedict was roaming the halls of Owasso High School in Oklahoma on Feb. 7, basking in the remnant joy of having turned 16 a few weeks prior. On Feb. 15, they were buried. 

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The Choctaw, two-spirit, forever 16-year-old was an avid artist, Ark gamer and “Minecraft” enthusiast. They are remembered by friends and faculty as a fiery kid who was never afraid to stand up for what was right — a burden that seems too heavy for a teenager of their age and a reminder to those who continuously fail to protect queer and transgender youth. 

While details of their death are still being uncovered, police body cam footage retrieved from Feb. 7 reveals the gender identity-based violence and high school bullying that culminated in their death. In the video, Nex explains that several girls in the bathroom were bullying them and their friend based on their identities, causing Nex to retaliate by splashing them with water. In response, the girls beat Nex until they blacked out.   

Despite being picked up from school with severe head injuries, an ambulance was not called for Nex. The Owasso Police Department released a statement Feb. 21 declaring the abuse from their classmates was not related to their death. Two days later, a spokesperson for the department asserted that murder charges were still “on the table.” Ranging from the students who discriminated against Nex to the system that is responsible for protecting them, the failure to act and protect is abundant on all levels. 

Owasso High School is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for violations of Title IX, specifically for “failing to respond appropriately to sex-based harassment.” For those of us at universities, the repeat offenses of such harassment have manifested throughout lifetimes. From jeers in middle school that are brushed off as tokens of ignorant youth to the campus offices and administrators that gatekeep gender euphoria, achieving safety and assurance in gender identity is a far-fetched dream regardless of grade level. We need to generate ways for institutions of higher education to protect gender nonconforming and transgender individuals — the obstacles against gender-affirming practices are what lead to deaths like Nex’s, and the people who set them need to learn, change and act. 

It’s the small things that we can’t seem to get right: At USC, the process of correcting a name in school records is tedious and nearly useless. I struggled with my gender identity throughout my senior year of high school and carried it with me halfway across the country when I came to Los Angeles for college.

I emailed offices to change my name on class rosters, spoke to professors ahead of time to notify them of my name preference and clarified my pronouns on resumes and applications hundreds of times. The lengths I had to go through to be referred to and recognized as Chen were so strenuous and taxing that I gave up entirely — I’d hear back from research opportunities with “Dear Joyce” at best and be forced to clarify my name in front of 20 people at worst. 

While it’s not what Nex experienced, we both emerge as victims of the same systems. At university and metropolitan levels where people are proud to be more open-minded, it’s inexcusable and degrading that such a basic avenue to gender-affirming care is inaccessible.  

Owasso High School isn’t entirely unfamiliar with gender-based discrimination: In April 2022, a teacher that Nex admired resigned after being targeted by “Libs of TikTok” for voicing his support for LGBTQIA+ students. At the start of the 2023 academic year, Nex and other queer students became victims of prolonged, routine harassment as the Oklahoma bill that requires public school students to use only bathrooms of assigned sex was implemented.

 There is more to transgender or trans safety than transition-related health resources, which USC’s gender-affirming care program boasts, or the few gender-neutral bathrooms scattered across campus that are used to establish a lackluster inclusive aura. It is critical that schools, regardless of whom they serve, are committed to ensuring that students of all backgrounds have ample support and actually feel supported throughout their journeys, whether it be standing by educators who students trust or making name changes attainable. 

For high schools like Owasso, change may present itself in days dedicated to silence or annual 40-minute presentations. For places like USC, where we’re silenced with gratitude for the bare minimum while studying alongside the future judges of our community’s livelihood, it’s not enough — not anymore.

Correction (March 16 at 1 p.m.): A previous version of this article referred to Nex Benedict’s death as murder prior to determination of cause of death. The article was updated to reflect the unknown cause of death at the time of publication. The Daily Trojan regrets this error.

Editor’s note (March 16 at 1 p.m.): On March 13, the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Nex Benedict’s death a suicide.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health or thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988. For more Counseling and Mental Health Services, you can contact USC Campus Support & Intervention at 213-740-9355. For LGBTQIA+-specific resources, help is available through the Trevor Project.