Anti-trans law is under scrutiny following the death of a 16-year-old in Oklahoma

A 16-year-old student in a small Oklahoma town outside Tulsa died after what police said was a “physical altercation” in a high school bathroom, sparking outrage from gay and transgender rights groups who said the student was attacked because of his gender identity.

The student, known to peers as Nex Benedict, often used the pronouns they and they, and told family members that they did not consider themselves strictly male or female. Under an Oklahoma law passed in 2022, students must use the bathrooms that correspond to their birth gender.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no arrests had been made in connection with the altercation, which occurred Feb. 7 in a girls' bathroom at Owasso High School. Police said the case is still under investigation.

The apparent seriousness of the altercation and the student's death a day later have focused national attention on how school officials and law enforcement handled it.

Owasso Police Department said in a statement on Tuesday that the incident was only reported after the injured student was taken to a hospital by family members later that same day. At that point, a school employee went to the hospital, police said. The student was discharged and went home, but was rushed back to the hospital the next day and died there, police said in their statement.

“It is unknown at this time whether the death is related to the incident at the school or not,” the statement said, adding that investigators were awaiting the results of an autopsy and toxicology reports.

No other students were deemed to require outside medical attention after the incident, the school said in a statement.

The school district issued a statement on Tuesday suggesting there had been “speculation and misinformation” about the circumstances surrounding the altercation, which he said lasted less than two minutes before it was broken up by other students “along with a staff member supervising outside the toilet.” The school said all students involved “walked to the assistant principal's office and nurse's office on their own.”

The school district said parents and guardians of the students were given the opportunity to file a police report after being notified of the altercation, adding that any student found to be involved “will face disciplinary consequences.” .

The district does not want to say what discipline has been imposed.

A school district spokesperson, Jordan Korphage, said more details could not be provided due to privacy laws, and the district also could not provide information about previous reports of bullying against Nex.

“Nex didn't see herself as male or female,” said Sue Benedict, Nex's grandmother. told The Independent. “Nex saw itself right in the middle. I was still learning about it, Nex was teaching me.

Ms Benedict said that after the altercation at school she was told that Nex had been suspended for two weeks. After she returned home from the first hospital visit, she said, Nex complained of a headache. The next day, Nex collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital, she said.

The death renewed scrutiny of anti-transgender rhetoric by Oklahoma officials, including state Education Superintendent Ryan Walters, whose office has been forceful in trying to ban what it calls “radical gender theory” in schools.

“It's dangerous,” Mr. Walters said in a speech video taken by the agency last year. “It puts our girls at risk.”

The video highlighted a fight last year in a bathroom where: according to a lawsuita student was “severely” injured in a fight with a transgender student.

Advocates for non-binary and transgender students said the state's gender and restroom policies had led to more reports of confrontations in schools.

“That policy and the messaging surrounding it has led to much more student surveillance of the restrooms,” said Nicole McAfee, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, which advocates for transgender and gay rights. Students who do not present themselves as clearly male or female are questioned by other students, they say. “There's a sense of, 'Do you belong here?'”

The state education agency drew outrage from transgender rights groups last month after it appointed Chaya Raichik, who runs Libs of TikTok, an account on in which the suitability of the contents of the school library is assessed.

In 2022, Ms. Raichik reposted a video of a teacher in the Owasso school district expressing support for gay and transgender students. The teacher was later fired.

“Chaya is on the front line showing the world exactly what the radical left stands for: lowering standards, porn in schools and pushing indoctrination on our children,” Mr Walters said. told The Oklahoman last month.

Mr. Korphage, the Owasso schools spokesman, said students who identify as transgender or nonbinary would be “treated with dignity and respect, just like all students.”

He added: “Our goal is to engage all students regardless of race, gender, religion or background.”