Nex Benedict
Johanna Toruño
Unapologetic Street Series
Digital print, 2024
Los Angeles, CA
Nex Benedict was a 16-year-old, non-binary Choctaw high school student in Owasso, Oklahoma. Nex was gender-expansive and used They/Them pronouns. They enjoyed nature, drawing, reading, playing video games and loved their cat, Zeus.
On February 7, student Nex was assaulted and beaten by three other students in a girl’s bathroom at Owasso High School. On February 8, after being released from the hospital and subsequently readmitted, Nex died. Inexplicably, local police say that their death was not caused by injuries from the assault.
Nex’s gender-expansive identity, coupled with the fact that this crime happened in a school bathroom, has generated a lot of fear. In 2023, over 75 anti-LGBTQ+ laws were passed at the local and state level. These include “bathroom bills" and “don’t say gay” policies in schools. Such laws encourage open hostility and violence against trans and gender-expansive people, including children.
We must honor Nex and all LGBTQ+ youth who have been bullied, attacked, or killed. Gender nonconforming and trans children must be protected, accepted, and safe. We must demand an end to this terror!
Nex Benedict
¡Presente!
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