The Death of Nex Benedict

Nex Benedict, aged 16, was a non-binary student at Owassa High School in Oklahoma. On February 7th, 2024, Nex was beaten to death inside a bathroom, dying from their injuries a day later on February 8th, 2024.

The assault, which was broken up by a teacher who walked into the bathroom during the event, included a student repeatedly hitting Nexs head on the bathroom floor. These head injuries were not taken seriously by the school however, as reports have said that, despite Nex being unable to walk straight, was taken to the principles office unassisted. Nex was suspended for two weeks, while their assailants were unpunished.

No ambulance was called for Nex. Their family (there are conflicting reports on whether it was their grandmother, or their parents) took them to the hospital after they had picked them up.

This is the result of institutionalized transphobia within this nation. The Republican Party has spent the last few years targeting transgendered and gender non-conforming individuals with policies that strip their rights to self-identification, access to medicine, access to any form of treatment as a minor, and social transition as a minor.

These policies institutionalize transphobia, which legitimizes it within our society. This creates a vicious cycle, the State attacks transgender people, which leads to the citizens following suit, which leads to the State attacking them even more.

This same cycle can be observed in England as well. Just recently, a transgender teenager was stabbed multiple times, while being called slurs. Just prior to this, the English Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, was mocking transgender women in front of Brianna Gheys mother, another transgender teenager who was stabbed to death in England.

This treatment from the State exists to dehumanize transgender people, allowing others to feel safe, and correct, in murdering transgender people. So long as our Governments continue to dehumanize transgender people, pass bills to take away their rights, and openly mock those who speak out, this cycle will continue.

What is happening is nothing short of an attempt at a genocide. To call it anything else would be blind to the reality of the situation. The State is knowingly pushing rhetoric that leads to people murdering transgender individuals

So why do these policies lead to an increase in transphobic hate crimes? The simple answer is that it legitimizes transphobia in our society. Transphobia becomes the official policy of the Government. It is no longer just a form of bigotry, it becomes a legitimate political stance, one that many people latch on to.

Why do they latch onto bigotry? Well, just as much as humans are cooperative, humans are also competitive. Having an in-group and an out-group is important to us. Much of the time, these are truly benign, and often in good fun. Sports teams, board games, competitive video games, etc. etc.. However, due to this nature, we latch on to the creation of a new out-group very easily. We did it to the Jewish people, the Muslims, the Africans, the Asians, the Communists, etc. etc.. So when our Government creates a new out-group, such as transgender people, many tend to latch on. Even if they have had no personal experiences with the newly designated out-group, they will find some way to believe that the claims made by the Government is true.

For example, when the fight for bathrooms rights first started to take off, many people were saying things along the lines of, If we let trans women use the womens restroom, then actual women will be at risk!, despite these people having heard no stories of such a scenario happening, and likely have not heard a story of a transgender woman even being the type of person to do such an act. Despite this, they still latched onto the official government stance, that of transphobia.

Which leads us into the final part of this essay. Who is pushing the transphobia? While the Republican Party is doing their massive part in legitimizing transphobia, there are other sources. Namely, conservative news, podcasts, and social media accounts. While these people may not officially be a part of the Republican Party, they act as mouth pieces to rally the Republican base up against whichever out-group the party wishes to target that specific decade. And in the case of Nex Benedict, the conservative social media, namely Libs of TikTok may have a larger blame than the party itself. Mostly for their visibility with younger communities.

I wont end this essay by telling you to go vote, or peacefully protest, or email your senator. While these can be effective actions, particularly in helping some transgender people feel even just a little bit safer, ultimately these will not fix the structural issues in our society. Namely the fact that our economic and government structure rewards the creation of in-groups and out-groups. For this issue to be solved, this root cause must be addressed.

My deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Nex Benedict.

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